US, UK citizens face anxious wait on possible assistance amid Sudan unrest

Aid workers, diplomats, officials and citizens have been trapped in Sudan since fighting broke out last Saturday between the army and the Rapid Support Forces. (AP)
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Updated 21 April 2023
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US, UK citizens face anxious wait on possible assistance amid Sudan unrest

  • Pentagon said it had deployed forces and is developing options
  • State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said US citizens ‘should make their own arrangements to stay safe’

LONDON: US citizens in Sudan should have no expectation of a US-government coordinated evacuation from the country, deputy State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Friday, amid heavy firing heard in the capital Khartoum.

Patel told reporters at a press briefing that given the closure of Khartoum’s airport and the uncertain security situation in the country, citizens there should make their own arrangements to stay safe.

Elsewhere, a British man trapped in Khartoum for almost a week with his family has said the UK Foreign Office has done nothing to help evacuate citizens, according to a report in The Independent.

He is sheltering at a location in the Sudanese captial along with 20 other foreign nationals.

On Friday morning, he and the others were requested to register their names on a list of those needing to be evacuated, but, after six days, “that’s it”, the man told the newspaper.

Aid workers, diplomats, officials and citizens have been trapped in Sudan since fighting broke out last Saturday between the army and the Rapid Support Forces, with supplies dwindling and violence escalating.

Governments and aid agencies have said it is too dangerous to attempt an evacuation given the situation on the ground.

The Foreign Office and the British embassy in Sudan have not commented.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon said it had deployed forces and is developing options to assist in a possible evacuation of US Embassy personnel from Sudan.

The troop moves by the US military are intended “to ensure that we provide as many options as possible, if we are called on to do something. We haven’t been called on to do anything yet,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said at a news conference in Germany.

“It’s absolutely imperative that US citizens in Sudan make their own arrangements to stay safe in these difficult circumstances,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said in Washington.

He added that “Americans should have no expectation of a US government coordinated evacuation at this time. And we expect that that’s going to remain the case.”

The UK on Friday was also finalizing plans for a possible evacuation of hundreds of its citizens from Sudan, with British officials reportedly setting up an emergency operation to extricate people trapped in the north African country.

* With Reuters and AP


US condemns RSF drone attack on World Food Programme convoy in Sudan’s North Kordofan

Updated 42 min 27 sec ago
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US condemns RSF drone attack on World Food Programme convoy in Sudan’s North Kordofan

  • Denise Brown, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, also expresses concern over the drone attack

WASHINGTON: The US has condemned a drone attack by Rapid Support Forces on an aid convoy in Sudan’s North Kordofan state that killed one person and injured three others.

“The United States condemns the recent drone attack on a World Food Program convoy in North Kordofan transporting food to famine-stricken people which killed one and wounded many others,” US Senior Adviser for Arab and African Affairs Massad Boulos wrote on X.

“Destroying food intended for people in need and killing humanitarian workers is sickening,” the US envoy wrote.

“The Trump Administration has zero tolerance for this destruction of life and of U.S.-funded assistance; we demand accountability and extend our condolences to all those affected by these inexcusable events and terrible war,” he added.

The Sudan Doctors Network said the convoy was struck by RSF drones in the Allah Karim area as it headed toward displaced people in El-Obeid, the state capital, Anadolu Agency reported.

The network described the attack as a “clear violation of international humanitarian law,” warning that it undermines efforts to deliver life-saving aid to civilians amid worsening humanitarian conditions across the country.

There was no immediate comment from the rebel group.

 

 

Denise Brown, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, in a statement also expressed concern over the drone attack which hit the aid trucks in North Kordofan.

“I am deeply concerned by a drone attack earlier today on trucks contracted by the World Food Programme (WFP) in North Kordofan, the aftermath of which I came across a few hours later, as I left the state capital, El Obeid.”

“The trucks were en route from Kosti to deliver life-saving food assistance to displaced families near El Obeid when they were struck, tragically killing at least one individual and injuring many more. The trucks caught fire, destroying food commodities intended for life-saving humanitarian response.”

Brown added that “Humanitarian personnel, assets and supplies must be protected at all times. Attacks on aid operations undermine efforts to reach people facing hunger and displacement.”

“Safe and unimpeded humanitarian access remains critical to ensure assistance reaches the most vulnerable people across Sudan.”

Since April 2023, the conflict between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary forces has killed tens of thousands, displaced 11 million and which the UN has described as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

An alert issued by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), confirmed famine conditions in El-Fasher and Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan, about 800 kilometers to the east.

The IPC said that 20 more areas in Sudan’s Darfur and neighboring Kordofan were at risk of famine.

Of Sudan’s 18 states, the RSF controls all five states in the western Darfur region, except for parts of North Darfur that remain under army control. The army holds most areas of the remaining 13 states across the south, north, east and center of the country, including the capital, Khartoum.

The conflict between the army and the RSF, which erupted in April 2023, has killed thousands of people and displaced millions.