More than thirty Spaniards evacuated from Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, are now flying to Djibouti in a Spanish Armed Forces plane following an operation coordinated by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, and Defence. The heads of the two ministries, José Manuel Albares and Margarita Robles, respectively, have been in constant contact throughout the day to ensure the success of the operation.
The Spanish military plane took off from Khartoum shortly before 11 p.m. (Madrid time) with around a hundred passengers of eight nationalities (Portuguese, Italians, Poles, Irish, Mexicans, Venezuelans, Colombians and Argentines), along with the Spanish and Sudanese nationals.
In addition to those evacuated in today's operation, another group of Spanish nationals decided voluntarily to remain in Sudan or leave by other means, while others had already managed to leave the country before the operation was launched.
The transfer operation from the Spanish Embassy in Khartoum was carried out without incident thanks to a security operation to guarantee the integrity of the transfer for the members of the convoy.
The operation, on the part of the Spanish Armed Forces, consisted of four Air and Space Army aircraft, which operated between Djibouti and Spain to transport all the military material and personnel involved in the operation, which was carried out from Khartoum airport. To this end, nearly 200 military personnel from the Spanish Army and Air Force have been involved.
Likewise, support has been provided from Djibouti by the personnel of the Orion Detachment, which has become a forward base for the deployment of the Operation to evacuate Spanish civilian personnel in Sudan following the outbreak of armed conflict.
Non official translation
Image of the evacuation of the Spanish from Khartoum