The plane with 72 people evacuated in Sudan in an operation that has involved 200 soldiers lands in Madrid
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, has just received, at the Torrejón Air Base (Madrid) the Spanish Air Force plane with 72 passengers on board (34 Spaniards and 11 other nationalities) from Sudan. Spain has evacuated these people from Khartoum, the capital of the African country, threatened by an armed conflict.
The operation began at the edge of 11:00 p.m. Spanish time this Sunday. Air Force and Space planes took off with Spanish, European and Latin American citizens and diplomats.
“Planes with our citizens on board have just taken off from Khartoum.. Other European and Latin American citizens also travel. No incident in the transfer of our convoy,” the Foreign Minister posted on his Twitter profile. Albares has called for a ceasefire and to resume dialogue in Sudan. Spain has evacuated around a hundred passengers of eight nationalities (Portuguese, Italian, Polish, Irish, Mexican, Venezuelan, Colombian and Argentine), along with Spaniards and Sudanese, according to data provided by Foreign Affairs.
One of the evacuees celebrates his arrival in Spain. AND. m.
The Mexican Foreign Minister, Marcelo Ebrard, has confirmed that “five Mexicans and two relatives have safely boarded a flight organized by Spain to evacuate their compatriots from Sudan.”. He has thanked Albares for his “support” and has anticipated that “another Mexican will be evacuated tomorrow with the support of the UN.”
In addition to those evacuated in this Sunday's operation, another group of Spaniards voluntarily decided to remain in Sudan or leave it by other means, while others had managed to leave the country before the implementation of this device.
The Non-Combatant Personnel Rescue Operation (NEO) began on Friday with the positioning of a first A400 aircraft at the Djibouti airport, to which an Airbus A330 and two other A400s from the Air and Space Army were added.
In the last 48 hours, aircraft have operated between Djibouti and Spain to transport all the material and military personnel involved in the operation, which has been carried out from Khartoum airport, according to Defense sources.
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Likewise, from Djibouti, it has had the support of the personnel of the Orion Detachment, which has become an advanced base for the deployment of the Operation to evacuate Spanish civilian personnel in Sudan after the outbreak of the armed conflict.
The Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, explained this Saturday that “mobile vehicles, personnel from the Army and Special Operations, had also been sent in case an evacuation by land was necessary.”
To this end, nearly 90 soldiers from the I Paratrooper Flag and the Army Special Operations Command have been involved, as well as 80 members of the 31st Wing, 45th Group, Air Deployment Support Squadron and the Aeroevacuation Medical Unit of the Air and Space Army, as well as a reconnaissance and operational liaison team from the Operations Command and personnel from the Joint Command of Special Operations. In total, nearly 200 soldiers from the Land and Air Forces have been involved.
The inside of the plane.
The evacuation carried out by Spain has ended without incident. A security device was enabled to guarantee the integrity of the transfer for the members of the convoy, they confirm from Foreign Affairs. It was a risky operation, in a conflict zone. France, which has also evacuated its residents, suffered an attack on the embassy convoy that caused one of its citizens to be injured.
The Kings have congratulated Albares and Robles for the “success” of the operation, a congratulation that has also been extended to the Chief of the Defense Staff, Admiral General Teodoro Esteban López Calderón, and to the Chief General of the Operations Command, Lieutenant General Francisco Braco, as well as the Spanish ambassador in Sudan, Isidro Gonzalez.
Sudan has been fighting for eight days between the Army and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group. The confrontation arose from the reforms undertaken to form a new transitional government after the coup.