US military preparing possible evacuation from embassy in Sudan
Mike Brest
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The U.S. military is preparing for a possible evacuation of the U.S. Embassy in Sudan.
The military is moving assets to Navy Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti due to the current situation in Sudan, where two warring factions are currently fighting.
SUDAN’S ARMY AND RIVAL FORCE CLASH, WIDER CONFLICT FEARED
“The Department of Defense, through U.S. Africa Command, is monitoring the situation in Sudan and conducting prudent planning for various contingencies,” Department of Defense spokesman Lt. Col. Phil Ventura said in a statement. “As part of this, we are deploying additional capabilities nearby in the region for contingency purposes related to securing and potentially facilitating the departure of U.S. Embassy personnel from Sudan, if circumstances require it.”
There have been two acts of violence against Western diplomats since Saturday.
“We had an American diplomatic convoy that was fired on,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters while traveling in Japan. “All of our people are safe and unharmed. But this action was reckless, it was irresponsible, and of course unsafe – a diplomatic convoy with diplomatic plates, a U.S. flag, being fired upon.”
U.N. special representative Volker Perthes confirmed the deaths of “three colleagues from the World Food Program who have been killed while trying to serve the Sudanese people in north Darfur,” although he could not say which side was responsible. European Union Ambassador Aidan O’Hara, an Irish diplomat, also “was assaulted in his own residency,” EU high representative Josep Borrell announced on Monday.
The clashes are occurring between Sudanese Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan’s military forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces led by Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti. Together, they combined forces in 2021 to overthrow a coalition government, but the two sides have soured amid disputes over the integration of Dagalo’s fighters into Burhan’s regular forces.
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“To be very honest, as the two sides who are fighting are not giving us the impression that they want mediation or peace between them right away,” Perthes added. “Rather, they are calling on the other side to give up or to surrender, or [for] the other side to be disbanded. So [that] doesn’t sound very much like preparedness to … allow mediation efforts to succeed on short notice.”
The recent round of fighting resulted in the deaths of at least 185 people and another 1,800 wounded, according to United Nations estimates released Sunday.