The Spanish frigate Reina Sofía this Friday evacuated about 162 civilians trapped by the war in Sudan, military sources confirmed. There are no Spaniards among the evacuees – because all those who wanted to leave the country 12 days ago did so by air – but, among others, Europeans of various nationalities and North Americans. The ship picked up foreign residents in Port Sudan on the Red Sea and brought them to the Saudi port city of Jeddah, 295 kilometers away as the crow flies.
Defense Secretary Margarita Robles announced this morning in Zaragoza that “an evacuation mission is underway and will continue in Port Sudan [a cabo] a frigate of the Spanish Navy”, but he did not want to give any further details “for security reasons” and expressed his confidence that the operation would be successfully completed, since the situation in the African country had descended into an armed confrontation since the 15th day between two previously allied generals, “it’s very complicated, very risky.”
The frigate Reina Sofía set sail on February 9 from the naval base in Rota (Cádiz) to join Operation Atalanta to fight against piracy in the Indian Ocean, which is why it was already in the area. According to the EU, which coordinates the evacuation mission from Sudan and on which Operation Atalanta also depends, the Spanish frigate has been diverted to Port Sudan.
The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, congratulated Spain on the maneuver and recalled it in a tweet that the joint action of the European countries has so far managed to evacuate 2,500 people from the conflict zone.
This is Spain’s second evacuation mission in Sudan. On the 23rd, 34 Spanish nationals and 70 foreigners were evacuated by air from a base near Khartoum. More specifically, this Friday the minister visited the 31st Wing and the Air Deployment Support Squadron (EADA), two Air Force units based at Zaragoza Air Force Base and taking part in the first evacuation in which 200 soldiers took part, four A400M- transport aircraft and an A320 passenger aircraft.
Saudi Arabia has already evacuated its nationals and those of other Arab states via Port Sudan, but European countries (Spain, France, Italy and Germany) preferred to do so by air from a military base near Khartoum given the risk , since it posed the risk of traveling the 800 kilometers that separate the Sudanese capital from the country’s most important port. The frigate Reina Sofía with 204 crew members embarks a special operations team and an AB-212 helicopter.
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