The Bundeswehr has ended its evacuation flights from the embattled Sudan for the time being. Recently, another 120 people had been flown to Jordan, and their onward journey to Germany was being prepared, the operations command said on Twitter on Tuesday evening.
In the past few days, the Air Force has evacuated more than 600 people because of the precarious situation in Sudan, where there has been fighting between the regular military and paramilitary units for around ten days. The two conflicting parties disregarded the protection of civilians with their attacks, criticized the German UN mediator Volker Perthes at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council in New York.
At times around 1,000 soldiers were involved in the Bundeswehr evacuation mission, and the operation is now being reversed. If necessary, Germans who have remained in Sudan are to be picked up by international partners on their flights in the next few days. The proportion of Germans in the last Bundeswehr flights was only small anyway. A total of around 170 German citizens and people from around 30 other nations were evacuated by Tuesday afternoon (12 p.m.), it said.
Subsequent mandate planned
The Bundestag wants to vote on the Sudan mission of the Bundeswehr this Wednesday (4.30 p.m.). With the subsequent mandate, the armed forces are also to receive a legal basis for a possible continuation of the rescue mission until the end of May.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) and Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) thanked all civil and military forces for their “great performance”. Baerbock spoke of the “courage, teamwork and tireless commitment” of many hundreds of participants in the armed forces, federal police and foreign office. Pistorius said: “Together we can be proud of the squad.”
In Sudan, de facto President Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who is also the supreme commander of the army, wants to use the military to oust his deputy Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, the leader of the influential paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The two had taken over the leadership of the country with around 46 million inhabitants through two joint military coups in 2019 and 2021. According to information from the World Health Organization (WHO), at least around 460 people died and almost 4,100 were injured in the fighting. However, the true number is likely to be significantly higher.
Regardless of civilians
“Both warring factions have disregarded the laws and norms of attacking densely populated areas, with little regard for civilians, hospitals or even vehicles transporting the wounded and sick,” UN mediator Perthes said at the UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday. He called on both sides to comply with the obligations of international humanitarian law and to ensure the protection of the civilian population and civilian infrastructure. There are also “disturbing reports of attempted sexual assault.”
Perthes, who had moved his place of work to the city of Port Sudan for security reasons, says he is still in regular contact with the rival generals in Sudan. However, both Army Commander-in-Chief al-Burhan and RSF leader Daglo are still accusing each other, giving little hope that the crisis will be resolved any time soon: “There are still no clear signs that either of the two is ready to take serious action negotiate, suggesting that both believe military victory over the other is possible. This is a miscalculation.”
With regard to the ceasefire that has actually been in force since Tuesday night, Perthes drew mixed conclusions. So far, the ceasefire seems to be holding “in some parts” of the country. In the capital Khartoum, however, fighting around the Palace of the Republic, the international airport and the headquarters and bases of the army and RSF “largely continued or in some cases intensified”. Airstrikes and heavy shelling continued, particularly in the towns of Omdurman and Bahri near Khartoum. The airport is reportedly back in operation, but the aprons are damaged.
Fear of crime grows
There are also numerous reports of burglaries, looting of houses and shops and cars stolen at checkpoints. The victims included Sudanese citizens, as well as United Nations staff, humanitarian workers and diplomatic staff. The fear of increasing crime is growing. UN Secretary-General António Guterres appealed to the Security Council for an end to the violence and warned of the outbreak of a full-scale war.
According to Development Minister Svenja Schulze, the hasty evacuation of German and international aid workers could have dramatic consequences. A third of the population in Sudan is already dependent on food aid from abroad, and the number is increasing every day, the SPD politician told the “General-anzeiger” from Bonn. The fact that the parties to the conflict have agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire is therefore good news. “In this way, people can provide themselves with water and bread or medicines.”
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