Evacuation of 400 people by the National Navy, update on repatriations, massive flight to Ethiopia, violent fighting in Khartoum... After twelve days of fighting, Le
Figaro
takes stock of the situation in Sudan this Thursday, April 27.
Sudan has been plunged since April 15 into intense and deadly fighting, in which the two rival generals Abdel Fattah al-Burhane (de facto leader of Sudan and the Sudanese army) and Mohamed Hamdane Daglo (second and leader of the paramilitary group Sudanese "
Rapid Support Forces, FSR
").
Thirteen days after the start of the urban guerrilla warfare, the clashes left more than 459 dead and more than 4,000 injured, according to a provisional UN report.
If a three-day truce concluded under the aegis of the United States allowed a brief lull in Khartoum on Tuesday and Wednesday, violent clashes resumed this Thursday in the capital, despite the ceasefire directive, effective until midnight tonight.
Evacuation of nearly 400 foreign nationals by the French Navy
The French navy has transported nearly 400 foreigners from Sudan to Saudi Arabia, French authorities said on Thursday, bringing to more than 900 the number of people evacuated by Paris since the start of the crisis.
The
Lorraine
frigate arrived in Jeddah on Wednesday April 26 from Port-Sudan (Sudan), from where it had left the previous night, the French Foreign and Armed Forces ministries said in a joint statement.
“
This new operation made it possible to evacuate from Sudan 398 people, including five French and nationals of more than 50 nationalities (including Americans, British, Canadians, Ethiopians, Germans, Dutch, Italians and Swedes)”, they specified
.
France evacuated a total of 936 people, including 214 French nationals and dependents.
Paris has repeatedly stressed its desire to evacuate all civilians who so wish, and not only its nationals or diplomats.
In particular, it ensured the evacuation of the ambassadors of Germany and Switzerland.
Evacuation of foreign nationals aboard the French frigate
Lorraine
, in Port-Sudan, Sudan, on April 25, 2023. - / AFP
United Kingdom, China... Evacuations continue
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly on Thursday called on his nationals wishing to leave Sudan to leave “
now
”, before the end of the ceasefire scheduled for the evening.
London had evacuated 536 people on Wednesday evening on six planes, according to the Foreign Office.
Other flights should take place on Thursday, before the end of the truce.
“
We cannot predict exactly what will happen when the ceasefire ends but what we do know is that it will be much more difficult, if not impossible,
” to leave Sudan, James said. Cleverly.
China has dispatched its navy ships to Sudan to help its nationals leave the north-east African country, which is currently in chaos, the defense ministry said on Thursday.
"
The security situation in
Sudan
continues to deteriorate
," Tan Kefei, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Defense, said in a statement Thursday.
Two Chinese ships moored for the evacuation of Chinese nationals, in Port Sudan, Sudan, April 26, 2023. STRINGER / REUTERS
Heavy fighting in Khartoum and Darfur, despite ceasefire
The deadly fighting between paramilitaries and the army entered its thirteenth day on Thursday in Sudan, where the capital Khartoum and the Darfur region are now in the grip of bomb chaos despite a ceasefire.
Military planes fly over the northern suburbs of Khartoum where the troops of the two generals in the war for power exchange fire with machine guns and heavy weapons, report witnesses to AFP, despite the 72-hour truce concluded under the aegis of the United States and Saudi Arabia, which began on Tuesday, April 25.
Numerous attempts to silence the guns have failed since the start of the conflict on April 15.
On Wednesday evening, the army announced that it had agreed to send a representative to Juba, the capital of South Sudan, for talks with the RSF "
at the initiative of IGAD
", a regional bloc in East Africa. East.
General Burhane said he agreed to discuss an extension of the 72-hour truce which is due to end Thursday at midnight and was generally poorly respected.
The paramilitaries did not comment on this regional initiative.
A burned vehicle, in Khartoum, Sudan, April 26, 2023. EL TAYEB SIDDIG / REUTERS
Fighters from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) brandishing their assault rifles, in Khartoum, Sudan, on April 23, 2023. - / AFP
Buildings damaged after clashes, in Khartoum, Sudan, April 25, 2023. STRINGER / REUTERS
More than 3,500 fleeing people have taken refuge in Ethiopia, according to the UN
More than 3,500 people of more than 35 nationalities, including many Turks, who fled fighting in Sudan have found refuge in Ethiopia since April 21, the UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM) told AFP. .
Given the increase in the number of arrivals from Sudan, IOM says it is strengthening its presence in the border town of Metema, located in the north-west of Ethiopia, in the Amhara region, on a road linking this country to Khartoum, the Sudanese capital.
More than 40% of the people who have thus found refuge in Ethiopia are Turks and 14% Ethiopians, explained to AFP Eric Mazango, the communication officer of this international organization in Ethiopia, in a message received on Thursday.
“
Arrivals have increased sharply over the past five days, from 200 arrivals recorded between April 21 and 22, to 350 on the 23rd, over 1,500 on the 24th and 1,300 on the 25th,” he added
.
Fleeing Sudanese wait to be registered in the camp near the Sudanese-Chadian border, in Adre, Chad, April 26, 2023. MAHAMAT RAMADANE / REUTERS
