While nearly 250 French people live in this country, Paris announced this Sunday the evacuation of its nationals, an operation deemed to be “extremely complex”.
France began this Sunday a “rapid evacuation operation” of its nationals and its diplomatic staff from Sudan. In the afternoon, the Quai d’Orsay and the Ministry of the Armed Forces announced that a first French plane had left Khartoum, the scene of heavy fighting, with a hundred people on board.
A second flight to Djibouti should follow. The authorities in charge, however, stressed the “extreme complexity” of the evacuation operations which could still last one or two days.
“Security guarantees” from the belligerents
About 250 French nationals live in Sudan. In addition, European nationals and coming from “allied partner countries” are also supported in this evacuation operation.
The latter was launched this Sunday at 8 am. The authorities took advantage of a window: the fighting forces concluded a 72-hour truce. “The Eid celebration and the ceasefire make it possible to limit the risk of the operation”, details on BFMTV Anthony Couzian-Marchand, general manager of Gallice international and former number 2 of the GIGN.
According to a diplomatic source, the Sudanese armed forces, like the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), against whom they are fighting, “provided security guarantees” allowing this operation.
An attack on the convoy
The evacuation of French nationals is carried out “by the French armed forces which have been deployed and prepositioned in the region, in particular in Djibouti”, explains the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
But “this type of operation, as planned and prepared as it is, is always subject to the hazard”, adds Anthony Couzian-Marchand.
“It seems that on the way to the airport which had been chosen as the place of evacuation there was an attack which forced the convoy to turn around”, he says. Indeed, the belligerents mutually accused each other of having attacked a convoy of French nationals, each reporting one French wounded. For the time being, the Quai d’Orsay has not communicated on these facts.
The Sudanese army also accused the RSF of attacking and looting a Qatari convoy heading for Port Sudan on the Red Sea.
Bus convoy
“This kind of convoy is first prepared upstream with the negotiations to have at least the assurance of one or two camps that there will be no deliberate attacks”, specifies Anthony Couzian-Marchand.
It is then necessary to prepare the bus route and “check that it is well practicable”. “You also have to recover the personnel, have the vehicles, seasoned drivers, a safety device and then ensure downstream that there are no people trapped behind the convoy”, explains the specialist.
“Maintaining this convoy as a continuous block is an operational necessity,” he adds.
At least 420 dead
Saudi Arabia was the first country to successfully evacuate its nationals. She first organized a large convoy from the capital to the city of Port Sudan, before evacuating people by boat. For its part, the United States announced that it had exfiltrated at least 70 people from its embassy using helicopters.
“It’s a risky operation because it’s a country at war and areas where the attack can come from the sky or the ground,” continues Anthony Couzian-Marchand.
This Sunday, Emmanuel Macron said he was “mobilized” to ensure “the safety” of French nationals residing in Sudan, while the country has been the scene of violent clashes since April 15 between the army of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane , de facto ruler of Sudan since the putsch of 2021, and his deputy turned rival, General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo, who commands the Rapid Support Forces.
The fighting left more than 420 dead and 3,700 injured, according to a very provisional report from the WHO, despite multiple calls for a ceasefire. They also caused the flight of thousands of people who left on the roads.
