Fighting broke out in Sudan on Saturday between the country’s two most powerful generals and their units.
(Photo: dpa)
Khartoum The US State Department confirmed the death of a US citizen in Sudan on Friday (local time). Due to the tense situation in the state in north-east Africa, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin had already declared at a press conference at the US Ramstein Airbase late Friday afternoon that preparations were being made for various evacuation options: “We have sent some troops to the country , to ensure we have as many options as possible should we be called upon to act.”
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said US President Joe Biden this week approved a plan to move US forces if they were needed to evacuate American diplomats.
According to a Pentagon statement, US Chief of Staff Mark Milley discussed the security of Americans in Sudan in a telephone conversation with Sudanese army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan late Friday evening.
Washington had previously stated that American private individuals in Sudan should not expect a US government-coordinated evacuation from the country. According to Deputy State Department Spokesman Vedant Patel, the government is currently in contact with several hundred US citizens who are in Sudan.
According to Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, the federal government is also preparing several options for an evacuation from Sudan. “The situation is absolutely dramatic and absolutely confusing,” said the Green politician on Friday in Berlin after a meeting of the crisis team at the Federal Foreign Office.
Power failures make evacuating Germans more difficult
The number of Germans who reported a desired evacuation is growing daily and is currently in the “lower three-digit range”. The problem is now also the power outages, so that the evacuees can no longer charge their mobile phones and therefore may soon no longer be able to be informed in this way, said a spokesman for the Federal Foreign Office. We are in contact with a number of governments.
The army and the paramilitary militia RSF have been fighting for power in Sudan for almost a week. On Friday, the army agreed to a three-day ceasefire to allow for the Muslim fast-breaking festival after Ramadan.
However, as a Reuters reporter reported, despite the agreed ceasefire, there were again violent exchanges of fire and isolated airstrikes in the capital Khartoum.
Spain sends military transporters
According to media reports, Spain has sent two air force transport planes to evacuate its citizens and some other Europeans and Latin Americans from Sudan to Africa.
One of the two A400M military transporters has already landed in Djibouti on the Horn of Africa, state TV broadcaster RTVE and other Spanish media reported on Friday. A third machine of the same type is ready in Spain. Each of the military aircraft can transport more than 100 people. There was initially no official confirmation.
Spain’s Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares had previously said during a visit to Berlin that his country’s military planes would be held on hold to fly to the Sudanese capital Khartoum as soon as possible and begin evacuation as soon as the security situation permitted. When that could be the case cannot be said at the moment. Djibouti is about 1,200 kilometers southeast of Khartoum.
More: Fighting in the third largest country in Africa: Sudan is threatened with a new civil war