Sudan mission: Bundeswehr returns to Wunstorf today | NDR.de – News

“The return of the main forces of the evacuation association is planned around 5 p.m. in Wunstorf,” said the Bundeswehr. The five transport aircraft and their crews are to land at the air base in quick succession. The so-called returnee appeal is intended to honor the servicewomen and men’s performance. In addition to Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD), the Inspector General of the Bundeswehr, General Carsten Breuer, and the head of the evacuation association, Major General Dirk Faust, will officially welcome the soldiers. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) is expected as a guest, as are members of the Bundestag from the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committees.

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius will receive the emergency services.

Tanks, hospitals and heavy weapons: the Bundeswehr came prepared

Meanwhile, it became known that the deployment for the Bundeswehr was apparently more dangerous than initially assumed. The material list shows that the soldiers in Sudan have prepared for violent clashes. How specialist media reports and members of the air base confirmed to NDR Lower Saxony on Thursday that the Bundeswehr was deployed with around 1,000 soldiers and heavy equipment. Among them were tanks of the “Wiesel” type and armored troop carriers. Apparently the ministry learned from the chaotic conditions at Kabul Airport at the end of the Afghanistan mission almost two years ago and prepared for what the military say is a robust mission.

People climb out of a transport plane during a Bundeswehr evacuation mission in Jordan.

Bundeswehr rescues 700 people from Sudan

Air Force Airbus A400Ms, which are otherwise stationed in Wunstorf in Lower Saxony, began on Sunday to fly people out of Sudan to Jordan. The Bundeswehr aircraft took off from Al-Asrak in Jordan towards Sudan and landed at an airport near the capital Khartoum. At the end of the German rescue flights, the defense and foreign ministries had declared: “As long as other nations ensure the operation of air traffic, no further German evacuation flights from this region are planned.” Germans remaining in Sudan who have not yet been able to come to the airport will also be taken by international partners on their evacuation flights in the next few days, it said. The emergency services have brought more than 700 people from Sudan to safety in the past few days.

People evacuated from many countries

In addition to around 200 Germans, the Bundeswehr also brought citizens from other nations to safety, including Belgium, Great Britain, Jordan, Austria and some African countries. “The onward journey of the evacuated citizens of other nations will be coordinated with the states concerned,” said the operational command.

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Fighting in Sudan between Army and Rapid Support Forces

In Sudan, de facto President Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has been fighting with the help of the military since April 15 against his deputy Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, who leads the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). More than 420 people have been killed and another 3,700 injured in the fighting. An initial 72-hour ceasefire came into effect on Tuesday, and since then thousands of civilians have been able to get to safety, including in neighboring Egypt. On Thursday, the rival military blocs agreed to extend the ceasefire by a further 72 hours. This was announced by the countries involved in mediation, the USA and Saudi Arabia. But despite the ceasefire, fighting broke out again, eyewitnesses report.

Further information

8 mins

According to Defense Minister Pistorius, the vast majority of German nationals have flown out. Remaining Germans could be evacuated by international partners. 8 mins

Three A400M transporters took off on Wednesday morning. Because of the tense situation, however, they had to turn back. (04/19/2023) more