The U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, has been evacuated on account of clashes between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group.
“Sudan’s ousted president, Omar al-Bashir, is ‘still in a hospital under the guard of the judicial police’, the army stated on Wednesday, following reports of incarcerated former regime officials escaping from prison in Khartoum.
Al-Bashir and about thirty others were moved to the Aliyaa hospital on the recommendation of medical staff at Kober Prison before fighting between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) broke out on April 15th, Al Jazeera reported, citing the army.
Former Sudanese politician Ahmed Haroun, who is facing International Criminal Court charges for alleged war crimes in the Darfur conflict, which the UN said killed 300,000 people and displaced 2.5 million, announced on Tuesday that he was no longer locked up after being held for four years.
According to local media, Haroun confirmed in a statement that he and other former top officials of the dissolved National Congress Party, including former Vice President Ali Osman, had left Kober Prison following a break-in.
‘We remained in detention in Kober for nine days… and we now have the responsibility for our protection’, the former South Kordofan governor said, according to Africanews. He claimed that armed attacks, a lack of security, food, and other basic necessities, as well as deaths and injuries among inmates and penitentiary officials, triggered their decision to flee the prison without a judicial release order. Haroun added that they were ready to face the judiciary when the security situation improved.
Kober was one of five jails raided between April 21st and 24th, which the Sudanese Interior Ministry blamed on the RSF. Police in Khartoum told the media that the attacks resulted in the deaths and injuries of several prison officials, as well as the release of all detainees.
The RSF and SAF, who staged a joint coup in 2019 to depose al-Bashir, ending his three decades in power, are now locked in a power struggle for control of Sudan. The conflict has killed at least 512 people and wounded 4,193 others, the country’s Health Ministry stated on Wednesday.
Despite a ceasefire between them partly holding, the UN has expressed doubts about both sides’ commitment to a lasting peace”. -RT
A timeline of recent events in Sudan:
August 24th, 2022 – U.S. Ambassador appointed to Sudan following a 25 year absence.
September 28th, 2022 – U.S. Ambassador warned
Sudan against finalizing Russian naval base deal.
December 5th, 2022 – UN brokered Framework Agreement between Sudan’s military leaders and leading pro-democracy parties.
December 7th, 2022 – U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken threatened a travel ban for Sudanese who endanger Framework Agreement deal.
February 12th, 2023 – Sudan confirmed deal for Russian naval base, key players Lavrov and General Burhan.
February 16th, 2023 – White House administration sends $218 million in humanitarian aid to Sudan.
March 9th, 2023 – U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland visits Sudan to “discuss democracy”.
April 8th, 2023 – Conflict escalates between Sudanese Armed Forces (under General Burhan) and paramilitary group RSF (under Dagalo).
April 22nd, 2023 – U.S. diplomats evacuate Sudan.
April 24th, 2023 – The White House releases a War Powers Resolution to Congress regarding the Deployment of U.S. Military Forces to Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Sudan.
April 25th, 2023 – U.S. moves intelligence assets, troops into Africa.
Less than a year after Sudan agreed to a deal with Moscow to construct a Russian naval base on the Red Sea, the United States allocated $288 million to Sudan shortly before Victoria Nuland paid a visit to the African country, and the Republic of Sudan promptly broke out into conflict.
And, given that the World Health Organization has recently reported that there is a "high risk of biological hazard" after Sudanese fighters seized a laboratory, it appears that the U.S. may be up to the same gain-of-function research operations in Sudan that we now know had been ongoing in U.S.-funded Ukrainian-based “biological research facilities”.