As Sudan crisis lingers, the United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken spoke with the Foreign Minister of Egypt, Sameh Shoukry, over expansion of ceasefire in the country.
Secretary Blinken said the talk with the Egyptian Minister is to consult on how to expand ceasefire in crisis-ravaged Sudan.
The US Secretary also added that the consultation is to expand humanitarian responses in the country.
“Spoke with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry today to consult on expanding the ceasefire in Sudan and ensuring a coordinated humanitarian response,” Secretary Blinken said.
The US Secretary also added: “We also discussed the May 1 Amman meeting on Syria.”
How Sudan Crisis Began
Diplomatic Watch reported that Sudan, a North African country has been thrown into an armed conflict when rival factions struggled to control the country.
The fight is between Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the leader of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, the head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
On April 15, 2023, Sudan crisis began in the heart of the country’s capital city, Khartoum before spreading to other parts of the country.
United Nations stated that nearly 500 people have been killed and about 4,100 injured with more casualties being recorded.
The UN has also sent envoy to Sudan to look into the humanitarian crisis ongoing in the country.
Countries Began Evacuation Process
In response to the crisis in Sudan, several countries began evacuation process for their citizens. The evacuation process was an emergency support to save lives of the external citizens living and doing businesses in Sudan.
The United Kingdom has deployed about 28 flights to airlift not less than 2,341 persons from Sudan. The UK mentioned that its evacuation process is the longest operation by any western nation.
For Nigeria, the Federal Government began evacuation process through the Nigerian in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) after hiring 40 buses to transfer its citizens to the border of Egypt. About 345 returnees are expected on May 3, 2023, in Nigeria as the first batch of the evacuation process.