Sudan crisis: Amid warring factions’ 72-hour ceasefire, the UN, India, and others begin evacuation

Virendra Pandit

New Delhi: Evacuation of diplomatic staff and foreign nationals gathered pace on Tuesday in violence-hit Sudan after the two warring factions agreed to a US-brokered 72-hour ceasefire, giving a breather to the United Nations, India, and other countries to speed up their efforts in the war-torn African country.

India launched “Operation Kaveri” to evacuate the nearly 4,000 Indians, who are among the thousands of foreign nations trapped in the cross-fires in Sudan. The first batch of around 500 Indians was evacuated to safety and was on its way back home, reports said. The Indian Navy’s INS Sumedha is being used to bring back the stranded Indians from the African ports.

India is also coordinating with Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, and other countries in the evacuation efforts.

The ceasefire will help facilitate the evacuation of foreign nationals from conflict zones in Sudan amid mounting casualties and a deteriorating humanitarian situation, the media reported on Tuesday.

Sudan’s battling generals agreed to a three-day ceasefire after 10 days of urban warfare in the capital Khartoum and elsewhere left over 400 people dead and triggered a mass exodus of foreign nationals.

Even as foreign governments airlifted hundreds of their diplomats and other citizens to safety, the Sudanese are desperately seeking ways to escape the violence amid burgeoning fears that the rivalry between friends-turned-foes Army chief Abdel-Fattah Burhan and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) leader Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo ‘Hemedti’ might spark an all-out civil war.

Reports said Amani el-Taweel, an Egyptian expert on Africa, warned of “horrific suffering” for Sudanese unable to leave. Once evacuations are complete, the “warring parties will not heed any calls for a truce or a ceasefire.”

The ceasefire announcement came in the wake of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ warning that the violence in Sudan, which flanks the Red Sea, Horn of Africa, and Sahel regions, “risks a catastrophic conflagration … that could engulf the whole region and beyond.”

He urged the 15 members of the Security Council to use their clout to return Sudan to the path of democratic transition.

So far, over 4,000 people fled the country in foreign-organized evacuations that began on Saturday last week. The US special forces swooped in with Chinook helicopters on Sunday to rescue diplomats and their dependents, while Britain launched a similar rescue mission. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said more than 1,000 EU citizens had been taken out during a “long and intense weekend” involving airlift missions by France, Germany, and others.

Groups of South Koreans, Palestinians, Kenyans, Saudis, Japanese, and other nationalities made the 13-hour drive from Khartoum to Port Sudan to be picked up by their nations’ aircraft.

While this fratricidal war rages, millions of Sudanese are trying to survive acute shortages of water, food, medicine, and fuel as well as power and internet blackouts.

Over 420 people, including at least 273 civilians, have been killed and over 3,700 wounded since the fighting began on April 15.