The French government announced Sunday that it is carrying out »a rapid evacuation operation» of its diplomatic staff and citizens in Sudan amid clashes that erupted on April 15 between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs has indicated that this work is being coordinated with the Ministry of Defense and has pointed out that there are contacts with »all the parties», as well as with »European partners and allies».
This operation includes citizens of these states, as well as European diplomatic personnel,» it said in a statement published on its website, without giving further details about those concerned.
After that, the RSF denounced in a statement published on its account on the social network Twitter that its forces »have been attacked by planes (of the Army) during the evacuation of French citizens from the Embassy of the country».
Thus, they have stated that these attacks, which have taken place »during the crossing from Bahri to Omdurman», »have endangered the lives of French citizens» and have said that one of them has been wounded, without Paris having pronounced itself on the matter.
The RSF has further stressed that »they have fully coordinated» with France for the evacuation and has stated that »this flagrant violation of international and humanitarian law and the declared truce has been witnessed by members of the French Embassy, who have documented the incident».
»In the face of this cowardly attack and to preserve the lives of French citizens, the RSF had to return the convoy to the point of departure,» they asserted, while reiterating their »total commitment» to the three-day ceasefire declared on Friday on the occasion of Eid al Fitr, which marks the end of the month of Ramadan.
In a second statement, the RSF denounced another bombing by the army in Kafuri, which it described as »a continuation of its stance of failure to keep its promises». It accused the »coup forces» of killing several civilians in the attack.
»We strongly condemn this treacherous behavior, which is inconsistent with the stated commitment to a 72-hour armistice,» they have reiterated. The Sudanese Army has so far not commented on these accusations.
During the last hours, the United States has evacuated all diplomats and their families from its embassy in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, while suspending its operations. Spain already has planes in Djibouti ready to undertake the evacuation mission when the situation allows it.
The hostilities broke out in the context of increasing tensions over the integration of the RSF – led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, alias ‘Hemedti’, who is also vice-president of the Sovereign Transitional Council – into the Armed Forces, a key part of an agreement signed in December to form a new civilian government and reactivate the transition.
The talks process kicked off with international mediation after the army chief and president of the Sovereign Transitional Council, Abdelfata al-Burhan, led a coup in October 2021 that ousted the then unity prime minister, Abdullah Hamdok, appointed to the post following civil-military contacts after the April 2019 uprising that ended 30 years of Omar Hassan al-Bashir’s regime.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
