US, France, UK evacuate citizens from troubled Sudan

The United States of America, France and United Kingdom have evacuated their citizens from the troubled Sudan where there has been intense battle leading to loss of lives.

According to the President of America, Joe Biden, the US troops swooped in on helicopters to evacuate embassy staff from Sudan’s battle-torn capital.

Biden, who said the US military “conducted an operation” to extract US government personnel, condemned the violence, saying  “it’s unconscionable and it must stop”.

Just over 100 US special operations troops took part in the rescue to extract fewer than 100 people, which saw three Chinook helicopters fly from Djibouti, staying on the ground in Khartoum for less than an hour.

France on Sunday also launched evacuation operations from the northeast African nation.

ADVERTISEMENT

Similarly, British armed forces have evacuated UK embassy staff and their families from Sudan.

According to a tweet from the Prime Minister, Sunak : “UK armed forces have completed a complex and rapid evacuation of British diplomats and their families from Sudan, amid a significant escalation in violence and threats to embassy staff,”

The prime minister said the government was “continuing to pursue every avenue to end the bloodshed in Sudan and ensure the safety of British nationals remaining in the country”.

Defence mininster Ben Wallace tweeted that  UK forces undertook the military operation alongside “the US, France and other allies”.

The UK operation involved more than 1,200 personnel from the army, the Royal Marines and the Royal Air Force, he added.