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An MV-22 Osprey with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 161 (VMM-161) flies during a U.S. Personnel Recovery Coordination Center (PRCC) validation exercise at Grand Bara, Djibouti, Oct. 31, 2021. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Dwane R. Young)
United States embassy staff and their families have been evacuated from the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, President Joe Biden announced on April 23.
The evacuation came a week into clashes between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that put a halt to a plan to transit the country to civilian-led rule and claimed the lives of more than 400 people.
“On my orders, the U.S. military conducted an operation to extract U.S. Government personnel from Khartoum,” Biden said in a statement.
In the statement, Biden also expressed gratitude for the “unmatched skill” of U.S. forces who took part in the operation and noted that Djibouti, Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia had helped with the evacuation.
Two U.S. officials familiar with the evacuation operation told the Associated Press news agency that embassy staff were airlifted to an undisclosed location in Ethiopia.
Before the beginning of the operation, the RSF, which controls key points in Khartoum, announced that it had coordinated with the U.S. military.
“The Rapid Support Forces Command has coordinated with the U.S. Forces Mission consisting of six aircraft, for evacuating diplomats and their families on Sunday morning,” the RSF said in a tweet.
The RSF also pledged “full cooperation with all diplomatic missions, and providing all necessary means of protection, and ensuring their safe return to their countries”.
Besides the U.S., France also announced an operation to evacuate its citizens and those of friendly countries from Sudan. In addition, the United Kingdom is preparing a similar operation.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry also announced the “safe arrival” of 91 of its citizens, along with nationals from Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Tunisia, Pakistan, India, Bulgaria, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Canada and Burkina Faso.
The clashes in Sudan broke out on April 15 as a result of a disagreement over how the RSF, which is led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, should be integrated into the army, which is led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and what authority should oversee the process during transition to civilian-led rule in the country.
Both al-Burhan and Dagalo have been ruling Sudan as the president and vice-president of the so-called Sovereign Council since a coup in October 2021.
Several attempts to broker a temporary ceasefire between the Sudanese army and RSF broke down, with both sides trading blame.
The power struggle between the two Sudanese generals could lead to a lengthy civil war. The evacuation of foreign nationals indicates that the warring parties are still not ready to seek a peaceful path to end the conflict. Khartoum is apparently about to witness a fierce battle.
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