The United States and the United Kingdom said their armed forces helped staff from both embassies get out of Sudan, but evacuations by some other countries faced problems on Sunday as rival military factions battled in the capital Khartoum.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the country’s armed forces has evacuated diplomatic staff and their family members.
U.S. officials said special forces using aircraft including MH-47 Chinook helicopters swept into Sudan’s battle-stricken capital on Saturday from a U.S. base in Djibouti, spending just one hour on the ground to bring out fewer than 100 people.
“We did not take any small-arms fire on the way in and were able to get in and out without issue,” said Lieutenant General Douglas Sims, the director of operations at the military’s Joint Staff.
Chris Maier, an assistant secretary of defense, said the U.S. military might use drone or satellite imagery to detect threats to Americans travelling on overland routes out of Sudan, or position naval assets at Port Sudan to aid Americans arriving there.
This morning, UK Armed Forces undertook a military operation alongside the US, France & other allies. They have evacuated British Embassy staff & their dependants from Khartoum due to the escalating threats.
— Rt. Hon Ben Wallace MP (@BWallaceMP)
The warring sides accused each other of attacking a convoy of French nationals, both saying one French person was wounded. France’s Foreign Ministry, which had earlier said it was evacuating diplomatic staff and citizens, did not comment.
Pope Francis appealed for an end to the violence during his Sunday midday prayer in Rome.
For the first time since the start of the fighting, a video was posted that briefly showed Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti in battle dress in the passenger seat of a pick-up truck, surrounded by cheering troops, near Khartoum’s presidential palace.
Reuters was able to confirm the location by buildings and road layout seen in the video which matched satellite imagery of the area, but was not able to independently verify the date the video was filmed.
Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said on Monday that he was based at the army headquarters in central Khartoum, about 2 km (1.2 miles) from the palace.
Battles have continued around the army’s HQ and the airport, which has been closed by the clashes, and over the past two days in Bahri, where the army has used troops on the ground as well as air strikes to try to push back the RSF.
Reuters
