Sudan conflict 2023: Evacuation plane shot at despite ceasefire extension

Sudan‘s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have agreed to a three-day extension to a ceasefire in Sudan.

The Sudanese military accepted the deal earlier on Thursday. The truce and its extension had been brokered by the United States and Saudi Arabia.

The existing truce, which was to expire at midnight Thursday, has not stopped the fighting between the two sides but created enough of a lull for tens of thousands of Sudanese to flee to safer areas and for foreign nations to evacuate hundreds of their citizens by land and sea.

The RSF denied firing at the plane and said the army was “spreading lies”.

“Our forces have remained strictly committed to the humanitarian truce that we agreed upon since midnight, and it is not true that we targeted any aircraft in the sky of Wadi Seyidna in Omdurman,” the RSF said in a statement.

The Sudanese army said the plane was being repaired.

Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) shot at a Turkish evacuation plane as it was landing at Wadi Seyidna airport outside Khartoum on Friday, damaging its fuel system, Sudan’s army said.

Hundreds have died and tens of thousands of people have fled in two weeks of conflict between the army and its rival.

The two factions agreed late on Thursday to prolong a ceasefire by 72 hours to allow for humanitarian access, but fighting flared in parts of the capital Khartoum on Friday, according to eyewitnesses and live video broadcasts.

Turkey’s defence ministry confirmed that a Turkish evacuation plane had been fired at and said there were no injuries. The RSF denied firing at the plane and said the army was “spreading lies”.

“Our forces have remained strictly committed to the humanitarian truce that we agreed upon since midnight, and it is not true that we targeted any aircraft in the sky of Wadi Seyidna in Omdurman,” the RSF said in a statement.

The Sudanese army said the plane was being repaired.

Warring factions trying to seize control of Sudan have plunged the east African nation into chaos, and thousands are fleeing the capital of Khartoum and nearby battle zones.

Some countries, including the US, have shuttered their embassies and many are coordinating daring evacuations of their staffs and other residents in an array of convoys, flights and frantic getaway drives.

But over the past week, there have been dramatically different responses by various governments as they try to get their citizens and embassy personnel to safety.

The US has come under scrutiny for evacuating roughly 70 embassy staff in a helicopter mission by elite SEAL commandos over the weekend, while warning thousands of private American citizens in

Sudan that there would be no similar evacuation for them.

Indian citizens stranded in conflict-ridden Sudan have desperately appealed for help and expressed their exasperation at the situation on the ground, with evacuations still yet to begin despite their home country dispatching a warship and two airforce planes to the region.

India has one of the largest contingents of foreign nationals still inside Sudan, with about 3,000 of its citizens believed to be stranded in the country that was last week thrust into civil conflict.

The families of these Indian nationals have appealed to the Narendra Modi administration on social media for their safe return. Speaking to The Independent, relatives back home expressed their anguish and worries over the wellbeing of their loved ones, and pleaded with the government for their swift and safe return.

Sudan’s health system is on the brink of collapse, a top diplomat has warned.

Agnes Oswaha, South Sudan’s ambassador to the UK, also expressed fears of a refugee crisis should the fighting erupt again.

She said she hoped the ceasefire between the warring factions could continue.

The Britons became trapped in Khartoum when ferocious fighting between Sudan’s top generals erupted and they were forced to make the treacherous journey to the border where dire conditions awaited them.

Dr Lina Badr, 42, an NHS gynaecologist based in Birmingham, and her three children have been waiting in the queue for two days. She described chaos as thousands of desperate people wait to cross into Egypt in the heat with no way of securing food or water.

The first British nationals were evacuated from conflict-torn Sudan on Tuesday.

A 72-hour ceasefire between warring factions has provided a window for foreign nationals to escape a “dangerous, volatile and unpredictable” situation, according to prime minister Rishi Sunak.

Several previous ceasefires declared since the fighting started on 15 April were not observed, reported the Associated Press.

Here is a look at what we know about the evacuation plans so far.

Britain’s evacuation mission from Sudan may have been bought more time after the rival forces agreed a three-day extension to their ceasefire.

The RAF has airlifted nearly 900 people from near the capital Khartoum as they raced to evacuate British nationals ahead of midnight, when the resumption of fierce fighting loomed.

White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre was asked why the US has still not taken advantage of the ceasefire to evacuate its citizens while the other countries are rushing evacuation from conflict-ridden Sudan.

“What is different about your risk assessment right now or security assessment than what other countries are looking at as they’ve gone in and gotten their people out?” a reporter asked during a White House briefing.

In what appeared to be a vague answer, Ms Jean-Pierre said the government has been pretty clear about the situation in Sudan for the past several months and years.

“As I just mentioned, there are consular services, a consular team that’s there, that’s trying to help Americans who want to leave in any way that we can,” she said.

She said the US had deployed intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets to support air and land evacuations routes.

“That is something that we have done and which Americans are indeed using.”

While embassy staff was airlifted out, the US has yet not listed out a plan to provide similar evacuations for potentially thousands of Americans still in Sudan.