Sudan coup
Sudan coup
Military coup in Sudan, and a few aircraft set on fire at the airport including a Saudi A330. I thought I could smell burning plastic...................
Re: Sudan coup
Reading some of the updates and the back story, it seems that there are Russian fingers in the pie. 
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Fox3WheresMyBanana
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Re: Sudan coup
Expect more of this worldwide.
This week's Russian Pacific Fleet surprise readiness check was intended to lean on Japan to provide less support for Ukraine.
putin needs any distractions anywhere that he can generate.
Even Prigozhin (Wagner boss) has just said he'd like the Ukraine war ended yesterday.Russia knows it's about to get its butt kicked.
Stand by for another NK nuke missile test.
This week's Russian Pacific Fleet surprise readiness check was intended to lean on Japan to provide less support for Ukraine.
putin needs any distractions anywhere that he can generate.
Even Prigozhin (Wagner boss) has just said he'd like the Ukraine war ended yesterday.Russia knows it's about to get its butt kicked.
Stand by for another NK nuke missile test.
Re: Sudan coup
Oh dear! I'm getting the distinct impression that we were asleep at the wheel (or someone was on holiday on a beach somewhere....) with this evacuation. My thoughts are with our nationals stuck there - with minimal dip. support.
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OFSO
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Re: Sudan coup
France 24 TV announced only today that French nationals were being evacuated.....
Re: Sudan coup
US has evacuated American diplomatic personnel from Sudan
https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/22/politics ... index.html
President Joe Biden on Saturday said that US government personnel had been evacuated from Sudan.
“Today, on my orders, the United States military conducted an operation to extract US government personnel from Khartoum,” Biden said in a statement.
In a separate statement, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that all US personnel and their families had been evacuated and that operations at the US Embassy in Khartoum have been “temporarily suspended.”
A group of just over 100 special operations forces were involved in the extraction. The operation was led by US Africa Command and conducted in close coordination with the State Department, said Lloyd Austin, the US Secretary of Defense.
The decision to evacuate the American personnel comes after a week of heavy fighting between rival military factions – the Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF, and the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF – which has left hundreds dead and thousands wounded.
‘Only really feasible option’
Blinken said the “widespread fighting … posed an unacceptable risk to our Embassy personnel,” noting that “suspending operations at one of our embassies is always a difficult decision, but the safety of our personnel is my first responsibility.”
Undersecretary of State for Management John Bass said Saturday that temporarily closing the embassy was “the only really feasible option for us in this case.”
“As a result of the intensity of the conflict, and the challenges that our diplomatic personnel were experiencing in conducting basic operations and the uncertainty about the availability of key supplies like fuel and food going forward, we reluctantly decided it was time to suspend operations,” he told reporters on a briefing call.
Fewer than 100 people were evacuated from the US Embassy, including “a small number of diplomatic professionals from other countries,” John Bass said.
“We do not have any US government personnel remaining in Khartoum at this time,” Bass said, but there are still “a substantial number of our local staff supporting the embassy in a caretaker status.”
The planning for the evacuation was “anything but haphazard,” said Lt. Gen. D.A. Sims, the director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
US special operations forces spent less than an hour on the ground in Sudan during the evacuation, he said. Troops took off from Djibouti at 9 a.m. EST, landing in Ethiopia to refuel before heading to Khartoum.
“The evacuation was conducted in one movement via rotary wing. The operation was fast and clean with service members spending less than an hour on the ground in Khartoum,” Sims said. “As we speak, the evacuees are safe and secure.”
US does not ‘foresee coordinating a US government evacuation for our fellow citizens’
While steps were taken to evacuate government workers, the US government does not “foresee coordinating a US government evacuation for our fellow citizens in Sudan at this time or in the coming days,” Bass said Saturday.
However, a senior Pentagon official said that “in the coming days, we will continue to work with the State Department to help American citizens who may want to leave Sudan.”
“One of those ways is to potentially make the overland routes out of Sudan potentially more viable,” Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict Chris Maier said on a call with reporters.
Maier said that the Department of Defense “is at present considering action that may include use of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities to be able to observe routes and detect threats.”
“Secondly, the employment of naval assets outside the port of Sudan to potentially help Americans who arrive at the port, and third, the establishment at the US Africa Command in Stuttgart deconfliction cell focused particularly on the overland route,” he said.
Biden said that he was “receiving regular reports from my team on their ongoing work to assist Americans in Sudan, to the extent possible.” Blinken said the US government “will continue to assist Americans in Sudan in planning for their own safety and provide regular updates to US citizens in the area.”
On Friday, State Department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said it had been in touch with “several hundred American citizens who we understand to be in Sudan” to discuss “security precautions and other measures that they can take on their own.”
The State Department does not keep official counts of US citizens in foreign countries and Americans are not required to register when they go abroad. Officials told staffers Wednesday that there could be an estimated 16,000 American citizens in Sudan, most of whom are dual nationals.
Following the evacuation and the suspension of operations at the embassy, the State Department updated its travel advisory for Sudan, saying that due to the current security situation, “The US government cannot provide routine or emergency consular services to US citizens in Sudan.” Its travel advisory remains at Level 4: Do Not Travel.
Calls for end to violence
US officials stressed that they would continue their efforts to bring an end to the violence, which Biden called “unconscionable,” and work to extend the ceasefire that both sides agreed to for the Eid al-Fitr holiday. Despite the professed commitments to that ceasefire, fighting has continued.
“We remind both belligerents of their obligations under international humanitarian law, including obligations related to the protection of civilians,” Blinken said.
Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Molly Phee told reporters Saturday that the US is “in close contact with Sudan’s military and civilian leaders to see if we can help them identify a path to extend and expand the Eid al-Fitr ceasefire to reach a sustainable cessation of hostilities.”
Phee praised the efforts of international partners, particularly Ethiopia, for their roles in the success of the US evacuation.
“Late last night, Secretary Blinken consulted with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who offered Ethiopia’s full support for the overflight and refueling capabilities that were critical to the operation’s success,” she said.
The aircraft used in the evacuation refueled in Ethiopia, which borders Sudan, during the mission.
In his statement, Biden thanked Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Saudi Arabia, saying they “were critical to the success of our operation.”
The SAF said in a statement earlier Saturday that its leader, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, had “agreed to provide the necessary assistance” to facilitate the safe evacuation of foreign citizens from the country in response to “calls from a number of heads of states.”
The RSF said in a statement posted overnight Khartoum time that they had coordinated with the US on the evacuation. Bass, the Undersecretary for Management, said “that was not the case.”
“They cooperated to the extent that they did not fire on our service members in the course of the operation,” he said. “I would submit that’s as much in their self-interest as anything else.”
PP
https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/22/politics ... index.html
President Joe Biden on Saturday said that US government personnel had been evacuated from Sudan.
“Today, on my orders, the United States military conducted an operation to extract US government personnel from Khartoum,” Biden said in a statement.
In a separate statement, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that all US personnel and their families had been evacuated and that operations at the US Embassy in Khartoum have been “temporarily suspended.”
A group of just over 100 special operations forces were involved in the extraction. The operation was led by US Africa Command and conducted in close coordination with the State Department, said Lloyd Austin, the US Secretary of Defense.
The decision to evacuate the American personnel comes after a week of heavy fighting between rival military factions – the Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF, and the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF – which has left hundreds dead and thousands wounded.
‘Only really feasible option’
Blinken said the “widespread fighting … posed an unacceptable risk to our Embassy personnel,” noting that “suspending operations at one of our embassies is always a difficult decision, but the safety of our personnel is my first responsibility.”
Undersecretary of State for Management John Bass said Saturday that temporarily closing the embassy was “the only really feasible option for us in this case.”
“As a result of the intensity of the conflict, and the challenges that our diplomatic personnel were experiencing in conducting basic operations and the uncertainty about the availability of key supplies like fuel and food going forward, we reluctantly decided it was time to suspend operations,” he told reporters on a briefing call.
Fewer than 100 people were evacuated from the US Embassy, including “a small number of diplomatic professionals from other countries,” John Bass said.
“We do not have any US government personnel remaining in Khartoum at this time,” Bass said, but there are still “a substantial number of our local staff supporting the embassy in a caretaker status.”
The planning for the evacuation was “anything but haphazard,” said Lt. Gen. D.A. Sims, the director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
US special operations forces spent less than an hour on the ground in Sudan during the evacuation, he said. Troops took off from Djibouti at 9 a.m. EST, landing in Ethiopia to refuel before heading to Khartoum.
“The evacuation was conducted in one movement via rotary wing. The operation was fast and clean with service members spending less than an hour on the ground in Khartoum,” Sims said. “As we speak, the evacuees are safe and secure.”
US does not ‘foresee coordinating a US government evacuation for our fellow citizens’
While steps were taken to evacuate government workers, the US government does not “foresee coordinating a US government evacuation for our fellow citizens in Sudan at this time or in the coming days,” Bass said Saturday.
However, a senior Pentagon official said that “in the coming days, we will continue to work with the State Department to help American citizens who may want to leave Sudan.”
“One of those ways is to potentially make the overland routes out of Sudan potentially more viable,” Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict Chris Maier said on a call with reporters.
Maier said that the Department of Defense “is at present considering action that may include use of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities to be able to observe routes and detect threats.”
“Secondly, the employment of naval assets outside the port of Sudan to potentially help Americans who arrive at the port, and third, the establishment at the US Africa Command in Stuttgart deconfliction cell focused particularly on the overland route,” he said.
Biden said that he was “receiving regular reports from my team on their ongoing work to assist Americans in Sudan, to the extent possible.” Blinken said the US government “will continue to assist Americans in Sudan in planning for their own safety and provide regular updates to US citizens in the area.”
On Friday, State Department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said it had been in touch with “several hundred American citizens who we understand to be in Sudan” to discuss “security precautions and other measures that they can take on their own.”
The State Department does not keep official counts of US citizens in foreign countries and Americans are not required to register when they go abroad. Officials told staffers Wednesday that there could be an estimated 16,000 American citizens in Sudan, most of whom are dual nationals.
Following the evacuation and the suspension of operations at the embassy, the State Department updated its travel advisory for Sudan, saying that due to the current security situation, “The US government cannot provide routine or emergency consular services to US citizens in Sudan.” Its travel advisory remains at Level 4: Do Not Travel.
Calls for end to violence
US officials stressed that they would continue their efforts to bring an end to the violence, which Biden called “unconscionable,” and work to extend the ceasefire that both sides agreed to for the Eid al-Fitr holiday. Despite the professed commitments to that ceasefire, fighting has continued.
“We remind both belligerents of their obligations under international humanitarian law, including obligations related to the protection of civilians,” Blinken said.
Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Molly Phee told reporters Saturday that the US is “in close contact with Sudan’s military and civilian leaders to see if we can help them identify a path to extend and expand the Eid al-Fitr ceasefire to reach a sustainable cessation of hostilities.”
Phee praised the efforts of international partners, particularly Ethiopia, for their roles in the success of the US evacuation.
“Late last night, Secretary Blinken consulted with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who offered Ethiopia’s full support for the overflight and refueling capabilities that were critical to the operation’s success,” she said.
The aircraft used in the evacuation refueled in Ethiopia, which borders Sudan, during the mission.
In his statement, Biden thanked Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Saudi Arabia, saying they “were critical to the success of our operation.”
The SAF said in a statement earlier Saturday that its leader, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, had “agreed to provide the necessary assistance” to facilitate the safe evacuation of foreign citizens from the country in response to “calls from a number of heads of states.”
The RSF said in a statement posted overnight Khartoum time that they had coordinated with the US on the evacuation. Bass, the Undersecretary for Management, said “that was not the case.”
“They cooperated to the extent that they did not fire on our service members in the course of the operation,” he said. “I would submit that’s as much in their self-interest as anything else.”
PP
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1DC
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Re: Sudan coup
The Brits came out last night as well so somebody was awake to do our bit..The BBC had a few British people complaining that 'nobody was doin owt for em', not sure what kind of British people they were because they all had NR names.
Re: Sudan coup
Only embassy staff and families?The Brits came out last night
Re: Sudan coup
'Tis said 'thousands of Brits are stuck in Sudan! And no embassy to help. Not good.
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Woody
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Re: Sudan coup
Dominic Raab is in charge of the evacuation, as he’s got recent experience of this kind of situation.
When all else fails, read the instructions.
Re: Sudan coup
The only thing Raab could successfully evacuate is.................. 
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OneHungLow
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Re: Sudan coup
I doubt if he could even do that. The man is clearly an idiot, (vide. his comment about Dover) as well as being an incompetent (vide. Afghanistan fiasco) and a bully.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-46142188
A man who clearly doesn't know his arse from his elbow!
The observer of fools in military south and north...
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Pontius Navigator
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Re: Sudan coup
Apparently 4,000 UK Citizens, that is a huge number visiting Sudan. Of course they might be visiting family. Or they might be in their second homes.
How many are UK tax payers?
It seems many might be employed by the NHS.
Re: Sudan coup
Do you know for a fact that all 4000 are just "visiting Sudan" and work for the NHS?PN wrote:visiting Sudan
With all the FO organisation, the 'Intelligence Services' (possible oxymoron there), 'boots on the ground', the Embassy, I find it difficult to see anything other than a 'not-so-Cleverly' cock-up.
"Gosh - we really had no idea this was happening"
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OneHungLow
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Re: Sudan coup
It seems that some here think that if a man or woman or a child, is not white, although they are British Citizens, they have less right to His Majesty's government's protection, or am I misunderstanding some of the comments made on this thread?
Some are more equal than others! It that what is being implied here?
Some are more equal than others! It that what is being implied here?
The observer of fools in military south and north...
Re: Sudan coup
It all comes down to how they handle their fish knife.OneHungLow wrote: ↑Mon Apr 24, 2023 6:25 pmIt seems that some here think that if a man or woman or a child, is not white, although they are British Citizens, they have less right to His Majesty's government's protection, or am I misunderstanding some of the comments made on this thread?
Some are more equal than others! It that what is being implied here?
Been in data comm since we formed the bits individually with a Morse key.
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OneHungLow
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Re: Sudan coup
John!John Hill wrote: ↑Mon Apr 24, 2023 10:32 pmIt all comes down to how they handle their fish knife.OneHungLow wrote: ↑Mon Apr 24, 2023 6:25 pmIt seems that some here think that if a man or woman or a child, is not white, although they are British Citizens, they have less right to His Majesty's government's protection, or am I misunderstanding some of the comments made on this thread?
Some are more equal than others! It that what is being implied here?
The observer of fools in military south and north...
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OneHungLow
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Re: Sudan coup
The English. The shame...
Johnny their Kung Fu is weak.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/ ... -nationals
As a SafferI I would say, a highly vrot response. Are you not men?
Johnny their Kung Fu is weak.
The British military is assessing a highly fraught
An RAF plane has landed at Port Sudan in the north-east of the country with some troops to look at the option of taking nationals who have attempted to drive – some in UN-protected convoys – from Khartoum and elsewhere. The landing ship RFA Cardigan Bay and the frigate HMS Lancaster are also being lined up as options to help people out of the war-torn country as the UK desperately considers its restricted options
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/ ... -nationals
As a SafferI I would say, a highly vrot response. Are you not men?
The observer of fools in military south and north...
Re: Sudan coup
We had a security scare in Kabul (c 2003) and we were told to go to the airport saspo. There was only one aircraft and I missed the cut off and watched it fly away with most of our party. When I got back to the hotel someone was there trying to sell me a Russian motorcycle and he assured me I would easily get to the Kyber Pass and then into Pakistan, I passed on that.
We had our dinner and as we settled in for the night the sat phone rang to say to be at the airport first thing.
A Cessna 206 was there for us, PACTEC owned which was the local name for Missionary Aviation Fellowship, we were safe in Peshawar for lunch.
We had our dinner and as we settled in for the night the sat phone rang to say to be at the airport first thing.
A Cessna 206 was there for us, PACTEC owned which was the local name for Missionary Aviation Fellowship, we were safe in Peshawar for lunch.
Been in data comm since we formed the bits individually with a Morse key.
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1DC
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Re: Sudan coup
It would appear so Mr Lo but only because of the location, my bitch has nothing to do with colour ,creed or religion only behaviour. I get annoyed when I read about people who have acquired a British Passport many years ago, given it little value but put it safe 'just in case'. A situation like now comes along and the passport becomes worthwhile and the British are expected to perform.
If things don't happen as soon as wanted, people start complaining that they are being forgotten and feed their complaints to the media. I am sure the majority will eventually be rescued and then we will move on to phase two with the details of how it should have been done. The final phase will surely be when the media lead with how every other country did it better than the British.
AS an aside.. Up here on the Humber we are considered to be one of the poorest cum roughest parts off the UK but if you save up to go into the best fish and chip cafe, which many do, you will be given a fish knife and I am pleased to say that the locals are very good at handling the skinny little knives!
If things don't happen as soon as wanted, people start complaining that they are being forgotten and feed their complaints to the media. I am sure the majority will eventually be rescued and then we will move on to phase two with the details of how it should have been done. The final phase will surely be when the media lead with how every other country did it better than the British.
AS an aside.. Up here on the Humber we are considered to be one of the poorest cum roughest parts off the UK but if you save up to go into the best fish and chip cafe, which many do, you will be given a fish knife and I am pleased to say that the locals are very good at handling the skinny little knives!