France starts evacuation of embassy personnel, French and "allied" citizens from Sudan

Paris [France], April 23 : France has started a "rapid evacuation operation" of citizens and diplomatic staff from Sudan, CNN reported citing the country's foreign ministry's statement on Sunday. The French foreign ministry said the evacuation will include citizens of "European and allied partner" nations.

The announcement of the French Foreign Ministry comes amid evacuations of US government personnel and Iraqi diplomats from embassies in Sudan's capital Khartoum and the evacuations of civilians from nations like India, Qatar, Egypt, Canada, United Arab Emirates, Burkina Faso by Saudi Arabia officials.

Fighting between two rival military factions - the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continues in Sudan despite a 72-hour truce declared for Eid. On Saturday, Loud explosions and clashes were reported, mainly near the military headquarters and presidential palace in Khartoum.

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group has claimed that its convoy assisting the evacuation of French nationals was attacked by an army aircraft. The group said that one person was injured.

Taking to its official Twitter handle, the RSF said, "On the morning of 23 April 2023, the Rapid Support Forces were attacked by aircraft during the evacuation of French nationals from their embassy, passing through Bahri to Omdurman, which endangered the lives of French nationals by injuring one of them and the survival of the rest of the convoy members."

In the post on Twitter, the Rapid Support Forces said, "This flagrant violation of international and humtarian law and the declared truce was witnessed and attended by members of the French embassy that documented the incident."

It further said, "In the face of this cowardly attack to preserve the safety of the French nationals, the Rapid Support Forces had to return the convoy to the first starting point."

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden said that the country's military carried out an operation and evacuated government personnel from Sudan.

"Today, on my orders, the United States military conducted an operation to extract US Government personnel from Khartoum. I am proud of the extraordinary commitment of our Embassy staff, who performed their duties with courage and professionalism and embodied America's friendship and connection with the people of Sudan," Biden said in a statement, released by the White House.

"I am grateful for the unmatched skill of our service members who successfully brought them to safety. And I thank Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Saudi Arabia, which were critical to the success of our operation," he added.

Biden said that he is receiving regular reports from his team regarding their ongoing work to assist Americans in Sudan. He further said, "We are also working closely with our allies and partners in this effort." He called on the parties to implement a ceasefire and allow humtarian access.

US President Joe Biden said, "This tragic violence in Sudan has already cost the lives of hundreds of innocent civilians. It's unconscionable and it must stop. The belligerent parties must implement an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, allow unhindered humtarian access, and respect the will of the people of Sudan."

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