It seems that the cease-fire in Sudan was immediately violated
Smoke billows over the airport in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum
What: Reuters
In the fighting in Sudan, the warring sides are said to have decided on a 24-hour ceasefire – the details of which initially caused confusion. Either way, the fight continues. The German army is preparing to evacuate German citizens from the country.
hThe beginning of a cease-fire in the heavy fighting in Sudan was not achieved on Tuesday night. According to media reports and eyewitnesses on Twitter, explosions and gunshots could be heard continuously in the capital, Khartoum, even after representatives of both sides planned to start a 24-hour ceasefire at 6:00 pm (local time/CET).
The RSF-affiliated Rapid Support Group accused the Sudanese army of “violating the ceasefire agreed upon through international mediation” in a statement on Twitter at 6:14 p.m. She added that “in the first hours of the declaration of the ceasefire,” there were attacks on the Rapid Support Forces. Such information about combat cannot be verified.
An agreed three-hour truce on Sunday and Monday has already failed. Many Sudanese have been stuck in their homes, schools and other facilities for days. According to the United Nations, thousands of people do not have food or access to medical care.
German forces are preparing for a possible evacuation
The SAF had earlier made conflicting statements about a potential ceasefire with the rival RSF. The commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, had signaled his readiness. A senior general in the Sudanese Armed Forces has pledged support for a 24-hour cease-fire starting Tuesday evening to Al-Arabiya TV channel. But the spokesman for the armed forces announced on Tuesday morning initially on the army’s Facebook page that they knew nothing about “an understanding with the mediators and the international community.” He accused the RSF of using the ceasefire as a pretext to “cover up the crushing defeat they are about to suffer within hours”.
The country’s two most powerful generals and their units have been fighting for supremacy in Sudan since Saturday. The two men have led the country in Northeast Africa with a population of nearly 46 million since their joint military coup in 2021. According to the United Nations, at least 185 people have been killed, both civilians and combatants, and 1,800 wounded in the fighting.
Due to the tense situation, the Bundeswehr is preparing to support the German Foreign Ministry in the event of a safe military evacuation of German citizens. A spokesman for the Operations Command said on Tuesday to the dpa news agency in Berlin: “The German army has specialized forces that are constantly preparing for the scenario of an evacuation operation, and they are always on call.”
As part of national crisis preparedness, the Bundeswehr has capabilities to evacuate citizens, and also provides soldiers to Crisis Support Teams (KUT) that advise embassies in crisis situations. According to a spokeswoman on Monday, a “low three-digit number” of German citizens in Sudan were registered in the German Foreign Ministry’s so-called crisis prevention list.
The EU ambassador to Sudan was attacked
A spokesman for the Operations Command said that support is being prepared for the possibility of repatriation of Germans and other people. For reasons of operational security, the spokesman said, no details were given on the scope, personnel and materials of the potential evacuation forces of the Bundeswehr. “Procedures and procedures for evictions are regularly practiced and further developed in the Bundeswehr,” he explained.
A spokesman for the Federal Ministry of the Interior said, upon request, that a federal police officer – in his capacity as a security officer at the embassy – and several German staff members of the UN mission UNITAMS are currently in Sudan. These are the state police officers who are seconded to the Federal Police Headquarters and assigned to the UN mission from there.
Recently, a US diplomatic convoy came under fire during the fighting. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday that the convoy appeared to have been launched on Monday by fighters linked to the Rapid Support Forces. The people in the convoy are safe. He called on the commander of the RSF, Dagalo, and the army chief, Al-Burhan, to make it clear that “any attacks that threaten or endanger our diplomats are completely unacceptable.”
According to EU information, the EU ambassador was also attacked at his residence on Monday. The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, condemned the incident as a flagrant violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. He said on Twitter that the security of diplomatic facilities and personnel is a primary responsibility of the Sudanese authorities and an obligation under international law.
