ICRC suspends its operations in Khartoum

Sudan Events – Follow-ups

The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Friday that it has suspended operations to facilitate the evacuation of civilians and the handover of prisoners in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, until it obtains guarantees that its personnel will not be exposed to fire while facilitating the evacuation operations.
Last week, the Red Cross was exposed to a shooting incident in the Al-Shajara area while trying to evacuate civilians from church there because it violated the plan that had been agreed upon with the Sudanese army, which led to the killing of two people and the injury of seven others.
The official spokesperson for the Red Cross in Sudan, Adnan Hussein, said that such operations have been suspended, until there is knowledge and clarity on the issue of security guarantees.
Yesterday, Thursday, on the sidelines of his participation in the Global Refugee Forum at the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva, Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Al-Sadiq met with Mr. Robert Mardini, Director-General of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs provided clear statements about the circumstances of the incident and the poor coordination and understanding that occurred in the evacuation plan agreed upon by the Red Cross with the Sudanese Armed Forces. Robert Mardini expressed his understanding of the complexities of the security conditions, movement arrangements, and the difficulty of communication that may result in such an incident before the International committee suspended its operations today.