Spain plans to begin the evacuation of its citizens this Sunday, European sources assured, on a day when the United States and France have already begun the repatriation. In the last two days, the Spanish Ministry of Defense has sent six Air Force military transport planes to Djibouti, as part of the operation to evacuate some 80 people, including Spaniards, Europeans and South Americans, who are caught up in the fighting between the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (FAR) and the regular Army that have plunged the country into chaos for eight days.
Spain has also transferred various material, such as vehicles, in case it is necessary to evacuate by road, as well as personnel from the Army and special operations. In any case, the Defense Minister, Margarita Robles, sent a message of calm yesterday and pointed out that, although they are aware that not all Spaniards are in the Embassy or in the ambassador's residence, "as soon as there is a possibility, we will try to bring them". The Spanish government has received requests to also bring EU citizens.
"The planes are there prepared so that, as soon as the ceasefire is respected, this operation can be carried out, which is not going to be easy because the Sudan airport is closed", so the evacuation would have to be carried out from a nearby airfield and also by road, Robles said.
France, the United States and Saudi Arabia have also started evacuations. The Saudi kingdom carried out the first repatriation of 50 of its citizens, who arrived yesterday by boat at the port of the coastal city of Jeddah, on the shores of the Red Sea. Washington has evacuated its embassy staff and France, 250 French people living in Sudan, as well as diplomatic staff and citizens of the European Union.
The situation is "very complicated" due to the war between two military chiefs, Robles warned yesterday. In fact, some incidents have occurred during evacuation operations. A French citizen was injured in an attack on the French Embassy convoy. And the Sudanese army accused the RAF of attacking and looting a Qatari convoy headed for Port Sudan, though Doha would not confirm this.
Egypt, which has some 10,000 citizens residing in the country, said a member of its mission was shot, without giving details. Cairo has not yet announced when it will carry out the evacuation. "The firm belief and work letter of the Egyptian diplomat forces him to be the last to leave the land, after ensuring the end of the evacuation process for all members of the community who wish to leave," the Foreign Ministry said.
Since the start of hostilities between the Sudanese Army and the FAR, which has caused more than 400 deaths, a number of diplomats and personnel have been assaulted, such as the head of the European Union's humanitarian aid in Sudan, the Belgian Wim Frasen, who was wounded in Khartoum,
