Washington:
The US military has evacuated US embassy staff from Khartoum, President Joe Biden said late Saturday, calling for an end to “unconscionable” fighting in Sudan’s capital between the army and a paramilitary group.
“Today, on my orders, the US military conducted an operation to extract US government personnel from Khartoum,” Biden said in a statement, adding that the embassy “temporarily suspended operations.”
As the violence entered its second week, Biden pushed for an “immediate and unconditional ceasefire”, “unimpeded humanitarian access” and respect for “the will of the people of Sudan”.
“I am proud of the extraordinary efforts of our embassy staff, who performed their duties with courage and professionalism and epitomized America’s friendship and connection with the people of Sudan,” Biden said.
In a separate statement, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he had ordered the evacuation of personnel and their families because of “serious and growing security risks” amid fighting that has already left hundreds dead and thousands injured.
“We remind both warring parties of their obligations under international humanitarian law, including obligations related to the protection of civilians,” Blinken said, echoing previous calls for a ceasefire agreement over the holiday of Eid al-Fitr to “lengthen and expand”.
Fighting between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s forces and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) began on April 15 over a dispute over the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army.
The move was a key condition of a deal aimed at restoring Sudan’s democratic transition after the military toppled former leader Omar al-Bashir in April 2019 following massive civil protests.
The two men had joined forces to oust a civilian government installed after Bashir’s fall before turning on each other.
(This story has not been edited by NewsMadura staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
