EchoBlog

The European Union’s top humanitarian official in Sudan has been shot in Khartoum, as international evacuation plans were thrown into chaos by intensifying fighting between rival militaries.

Wim Fransen, a Belgian national who heads the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (Echo) in Sudan, was found on Tuesday by his colleagues with serious but not life-threatening injuries after going missing on Sunday.

An EU Commission spokesman confirmed the incident but declined to give further details, citing security concerns for staff in Sudan. A Belgian foreign ministry spokesman said: “The situation of the Belgian citizen hospitalised in Sudan is known to us.”

The shooting comes amid growing reports of looting and abuse by gunmen in a deadly battle for power between the army and rebels attempting to seize power. On Monday, the head of the EU embassy to Sudan was “assaulted” in his home. 

“We are alarmed by the situation and the security of our staff,” the EU Commission spokesman said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Describing the attack on Aidan O’Hara, the spokesman said: “Some armed men wearing military fatigues stormed the residence and robbed it. They did not identify themselves.” The 58-year-old Irish diplomat was “continuing to work fully” following the attack.

The attacks on foreigners have prompted governments and non-governmental organisations to review evacuation plans.

“British nationals in the country are advised to remain indoors, particularly while Khartoum International Airport remains closed,” said a Foreign Office spokesman.

It comes amid escalating fighting for control of Sudan between forces loyal to General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of the military, and General Mohammed Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, widely known as Hemedti, and the leader of the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

Many are hoping that a second attempt at a 24-hour ceasefire, announced by the RSF on Wednesday, will allow the evacuation of foreigners and civilians to safe areas.

Ruth Lawson, the charge d’affaires at the British embassy in Khartoum, said she was “in my home sheltering down with my family”. She recommended that other British citizens in the country also remain in shelter, monitoring the situation. 

The US embassy in Khartoum said it was gathering citizens’ personal details, urging them to remain indoors and stay away from windows. 

Security Alert
The Embassy continues to closely monitor the situation in Khartoum and surrounding areas, where there is ongoing fighting, gunfire, and security force activity. U.S. citizens are strongly advised to remain indoors and shelter in place until further notice.
Due to…

The EU Commission said it was not evacuating staff. “We’re assessing the situation constantly,” said the spokesman. “The security of staff is a priority.”

A mission by the German military to evacuate around 150 citizens from Sudan had to be halted on Wednesday because of fighting in the capital, Khartoum, the Spiegel news magazine reported, citing unnamed sources.

Japan announced that it would dispatch aircraft from its defence force to evacuate about 60 of its citizens from the country.

But with Khatoum airport closed after being damaged and fighting ongoing, The Telegraph understands that Western officials are waiting for Sudan’s air space to be safe before carrying out any evacuations.

“There’s no functioning airport,” said Mathilde Vu, the advocacy director of the Norwegian Refugee Council, who left Khartoum last week. “The airport is within the city, but it’s impossible to go to the airport because of the risk in the streets.

“At the moment, what we really need is a ceasefire to let people leave and to let people get water and food. Everybody right now is running out of stocks.” 

Sudan was already facing a dire situation after most international support to the country was frozen following the military coup in 2021, with one in three people in need of humanitarian assistance.

The real risk of the conflict deepening into a civil war raises the prospect of a major humanitarian catastrophe, said Ms Vu, warning: “The world needs to brace itself – this is going to be a major, major crisis.”

As explosions and heavy gunfire rattled the Sudanese capital in a fifth day of fighting on Wednesday, citizens were attempting to flee the capital. 

After both sides accused the other of breaking a 24-hour ceasefire that was supposed to start at 6pm local time Tuesday, one man told The Telegraph he was taking advantage of a lull in fighting to escape the city. 

“We cannot hear any fighting now. Everyone is trying to get out,” he said by phone as he drove through Khartoum. “We have been imprisoned in our own homes for like four days. We don’t have electricity, we don’t have water, we have been eating lettuce and dry rice for like four days. 

“Everyone is traumatised. Every hour we get bullets inside the house. Bullets come from different directions and that is all from the RSF, because I live in a street where they have one of their bases.”

The man, a survivor of the June 2019 massacre of pro-democracy protesters by army and RSF troops, dismissed Hemeti’s tweets about fighting in defence of democracy as “bulls---”.

“They hit us, they tried to kill us. I was one of the victims. I just ran. One of my friends was killed,” he said of the massacre. “I know what these people do. They just want to destroy this country.”

As Sudanese civilians in Khartoum blamed the RSF for many of the reports of abuse, the group claimed, without providing evidence, that members of the Sudanese military and Islamists had dressed in RSF uniforms to carry out a looting rampage in order to discredit the paramilitary group. 

“The tweets are written by his lobbying firm that runs his public relations,” said the fleeing Khartoum resident. “They mean nothing. He probably doesn’t even see them before they are sent.”

Another resident in Khartoum who also did not want to be named said that neither of the rival military forces were particularly popular with ordinary citizens. “They’re saying ‘it’s nothing to do with us, it’s your fight’,” the man told The Telegraph. 

A lack of popular support could make it harder for the army to decisively defeat the RSF, which has already proved itself a formidable force, said the man.

“The army wanted to finish the RSF. They thought they would get this done in a very short time,” he said, but were surprised that “the RSF was ready and is stronger than they thought”.

Nearly 300 people have been killed in the past five days, the UN health agency said, but the toll is likely higher since many bodies have been left in the streets, unreachable because of clashes.

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