Status: 04/24/2023 05:35 AM
Two German armed forces planes transported more than 200 Germans and other citizens out of Sudan due to the ongoing fighting. The operation has been preparing for days. Other countries have begun evacuations.
The German armed forces transferred more than 200 people from the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. And on Sunday evening, the first German machine to take off was a military tanker with 101 evacuees on the return journey, the German military announced. The Bundeswehr’s Operations Command later said the plane “landed safely in Jordan”. According to the information, a second plane with 113 people on board is on its way to Jordan.
In the afternoon, the Federal Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced via Twitter that the German army had begun an evacuation mission of German citizens due to heavy fighting in the African country. The aim is to transport as many German citizens as possible from Khartoum. The Bundeswehr and the Foreign Office created the conditions for the expulsion of more than 300 Germans who were on the crisis list. As far as possible, European and other nationals will be taken in.
A total of more than 1,000 men and women from the Bundeswehr are involved in the operation. It was prepared days ago.
Battles between powerful armies
The Bundeswehr machines had started from Al-Asrak in Jordan towards Sudan. The first plane landed near Khartoum at around 3:50 p.m., and the second shortly thereafter, the Bundeswehr announced. The evacuees are taken to Jordan and from there back to Germany. “The onward journey of the evacuated third-country nationals will be coordinated with the respective countries,” the Bundeswehr said.
Vera Rudolph, ARD Cairo, on evacuations from Sudan
Al-Sabah Magazine, April 24, 2023
In Sudan, the country’s two most powerful generals and their units have been fighting for power for more than a week. The two men have led the country in northeastern Africa with about 46 million inhabitants since two joint military coups in 2019 and 2021. The army is against his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, leader of the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Group (RSF). There have already been many deaths.
Several countries have begun evacuations
In the capital, Khartoum, the supply situation has evolved dramatically since the fighting began. There is a shortage of water and food, and power outages increasingly impede communication. The United States and many European countries had previously begun evacuating their nationals due to the increasingly tense situation in Sudan.
Foreign Minister Annalina Berbock did not travel to meet her colleagues in the European Union because of the situation in Sudan. The foreign ministry said Ambassador Michael Klaus would represent it in Luxembourg on Monday.
