Like the United States, Great Britain has brought in its diplomatic staff from the embattled Sudan. Amid an escalation of violence and threats against embassy staff, British forces have completed a complex and swift repatriation of British diplomats and their families, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Twitter today.
He also called on the parties to the conflict in the African country to lay down their arms and call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire so that civilians could leave the conflict areas.
Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said the armed forces were conducting the operation alongside the US, France and other allies in the Sudanese capital Khartoum earlier this morning.
More than 1,200 British forces were involved in the operation. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly also wrote on Twitter that the top priority remains the safety of British citizens.
US Embassy in Khartoum evacuated
The United States reported early in the morning that its government employees had already been taken out of the country and that the US embassy in the capital, Khartoum, had been closed. Around 100 US soldiers were involved in the operation.
The helicopter operation at the US embassy itself took less than an hour. There were no injuries or fatalities. The number of people saved is less than 100, including a few colleagues from other missions.
France is also bringing back staff
France is also repatriating its embassy staff from the country. The Ministry of Defense announced today that a “rapid evacuation operation” was being carried out. It was said that European diplomats would also be accepted.
The Netherlands is participating in various countries’ efforts to repatriate their citizens from Sudan. An operation by several countries is underway, Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra wrote on Twitter today. “The Netherlands are participating with a team from Jordan. They will do everything they can to get Dutch citizens out of there as quickly and safely as possible.”
In Sweden, the government today received the necessary approval in parliament to send an armed force to Sudan. The Riksdag in Stockholm approved a proposal to allow the government to provide a unit with a maximum of 400 soldiers for such a mission in the African country. A number of other countries, including Greece and Italy, announced imminent evacuation operations today.
Armed conflict between two generals
About a week ago, fighting broke out in Sudan between the country’s two most powerful generals and their units. Both had led the country with around 46 million inhabitants since a joint military coup in 2021.
Now de facto President Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who is also the supreme commander of the army, is fighting with the military against his deputy Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, the leader of the powerful paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Actually, Daglo’s group should have been subordinate to the army and power in the country should have been returned to a civilian government.
