20,000 Flee Sudan Violence, US Plans Sending Troops To Evacuate Embassy Staff — Details
The United Nations refugee agency said that up to 20,000 people have fled the escalating violence in Sudan to seek safety in neighbouring Chad.
Sudan Clashes: There seems to be no ending of violence and misery that Sudan is undergoing right now with countries across the globe pondering over the future of the country and its people. Citizens are left with no choice but to leave and avoid the land amid one of its worst violent phases. The United Nations refugee agency said that up to 20,000 people have fled the escalating violence in Sudan to seek safety in neighbouring Chad, reported the Guardian. It added that these refugees lack basic human needs such as food, water and shelter.
The UN agency further said that some of these people were taking shelter in the open as a result of the war that has been continuing for six days now. It said the majority of the refugees are women and children.
“In the past days, an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 people have fled the conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region to seek refuge in neighbouring Chad,” the UNHCR agency said, citing figures from its teams at the border, reported the Guardian.
“Due to the violence experienced by those crossing the border, psychosocial support is also among our top priorities,” the agency said.
For the unversed, the clashes are between the regular army and the main paramilitary force called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Following the 2021 coup, Sudan has been under the control of a council of generals, with two military leaders at the center of the current dispute. Know about the Sudan crisis in detail here.
According to the Guardian’s report, Sudan’s military rulers, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, spoke to Al Jazeera on Thursday.
Burhan said, “There is no other option but the military solution,” and accused elements in the RSF of “closing roads and preventing the free movement of people” in many regions. “A real truce cannot be implemented in these conditions,” he added.
Whereas Hemedti accused Burhan of starting the fighting and said that therefore there could be no future negotiations with him.
It comes as the UN secretary general, António Guterres asked both sides to implement a ceasefire over the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday to allow civilians to reach safe areas. However, the interviews show no sign of willingness from any side to stop the raging war.
Burhan told Al Jazeera that he would support a truce on condition it allowed citizens to move freely – something he said the RSF had so far prevented, the Guardian mentioned. It added that on the matter of possible truce, Hemedti told Al Jazeera he was ready to implement the same for three-day over Eid.
“We are talking about a humanitarian truce, we are talking about safe passages … we are not talking about sitting down with a criminal,” Hemedti said, referring to Burhan.
The surging violence in the country has so far claimed nearly 300 lives while thousands more are injured.
US Planning Evacuation Of Embassy Staff
Meanwhile, US officials on Thursday said that the Pentagon is moving additional troops to a base in Djibouti to prepare for the possible evacuation of embassy personnel, the Guardian reported. The report further said that some other countries have also started to make plans to evacuate thousands of foreigners, but their efforts have not turned into action due to the ongoing violence.
The report on the plan to evacuate embassy staff comes after a US embassy convoy was attacked in Khartoum.
“We are deploying additional capabilities nearby in the region for contingency purposes related to securing and potentially facilitating the departure of US embassy personnel from Sudan if circumstances require it,” the Pentagon said in a statement, as quoted by the Guardian.
Earlier the state department had advised US citizens in Sudan to remain sheltered. It added that the uncertain security situation in Khartoum and the closure of the airport made it really unsafe to undertake a US government-coordinated evacuation.
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