'Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom organized evacuation operations yesterday'
Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/France24_en
Category
đź—ž
NewsTranscript
00:00 Well, I can tell you that the operation is still ongoing in Khartoum.
00:04 As far as we know, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom organized evacuation operation
00:10 yesterday.
00:12 And it's very interesting to note that the UK strategy is very different from the French
00:18 one.
00:19 We know that the French soldiers went into Khartoum city centre to find French and foreign
00:24 citizens and to bring them back to an airstrip located north of Khartoum.
00:30 Well it doesn't seem to be the case for the United Kingdom.
00:33 They called the citizens and asked them to reach the airstrip by their own means, which
00:39 is very criticized, especially on social networks, by UK citizens living in Khartoum.
00:45 They say that it's very difficult.
00:47 They have to find a car, which is not easy at the moment.
00:50 They have to go through the city, which is still under intense shillings from time to
00:54 time.
00:55 They have to cross many checkpoints, especially in the city of Omdurman, the neighboring city,
00:59 checkpoints held by the military.
01:02 So it's a very difficult operation to organize for these civilians.
01:06 Speaking about the French, the plane carrying many French citizens who were evacuated here
01:13 in Djibouti and many citizens from other nationalities is going to land in Paris in a few minutes.
01:19 But it doesn't mean that the French operation in Sudan is over yet.
01:23 There's still a French boat in Port Sudan in the Red Sea and it's going to evacuate
01:28 500 UN staff members and their families to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.
01:33 We have to say that Port Sudan is considered as a safe city at the moment.
01:38 There's been no fighting reported in the city since day three of the fighting.
01:44 The army is controlling the city, so many foreign embassies are trying to send their
01:48 staff in this city.
01:50 And finally, let's mention all the Sudanese that are still stranded within Khartoum.
01:55 Millions of people live in Khartoum.
01:57 They still don't have food, don't have water.
02:00 And the only solution for them to leave is to find a car or a bus.
02:03 But it's still very difficult at the moment, given the intensity of the fighting.
02:07 Now you hinted at this in that response, Bastien, but the ceasefire, then it sounds, has only
02:12 been partially respected, given that fighting continues.
02:16 What have you been hearing on that?
02:19 Well, according to my contacts in Khartoum, it's impossible to call it a ceasefire.
02:26 They say that it's a humanitarian corridor, mainly for foreigners to evacuate Khartoum,
02:31 either to Port Sudan by road or to the strip north of the city.
02:36 But civilians are still stranded.
02:38 Yesterday, they told me that they could hear many gunshots, many explosions.
02:43 We know that an hospital in the city of Omdurman, so just like next to Khartoum, has been shelled
02:48 yesterday.
02:49 Many people were injured.
02:51 We received videos and photos.
02:53 And I can tell you that it was terrible in this place.
02:55 So I can tell you that the ceasefire is not working at the moment.
03:00 And it's very difficult to imagine both General Hemeti, the head of the Rapid Support Forces,
03:04 and General Burhan, the head of the military, to negotiate, because it's a power struggle.
03:11 It's a question of life or death between them.
03:14 And they both think that they can win this war.
03:16 So there is no real reason for them to negotiate at the moment.
03:20 The only thing that they're willing to do is to implement this humanitarian corridor,
03:24 maybe under pressure from the international community.
03:27 But at the moment, all my contacts in Khartoum tell me that they're not expecting any real
03:32 ceasefire soon, that the only thing that they're expecting is more fighting during the next