Sudan War, 25 April 2023

Few details on the evacuation of Italian and Spanish diplomatic personnel - principally because the Italian Ministry of Defence was reporting quite openly about the following affairs (contrary to the situation in Kabul, two years ago, when it was nearly zip-lip).

The Italian-Spanish evacuation was initiated in the afternoon of 23 April and run by the Joint Special Forces Command (Commando Interforze Operazioni Speciali), in cooperation with Spain (Spanish Army Special Operations Command/MOE), and with involvement of

• Carabinieri (they have their own special forces: the Gruppo d'Intervento Speciale),

• Italian Air Force (aircraft of the 46th Brigata Aerea from Pisa, and special forces operators of the 16th Stormo Fucilieri dell’aria/Airborne Riflemen and 17th Stormo Raiders/Incursori Wing),

• Spanish Air Force (Protection Squadron/EADA),

• Italian Army (9th Col Moschin Regiment),

• Spanish Army (Para Brigade/BRIPAC)

• Navy.

Over 200 embassy personnel from both countries (sources differ whether it was 105 or 140 Italians), as well as expatriates from Australia, Great Britain, Greece, Portugal, and Sweden were evacuated from Khartoum to Wadi Sayyidna AB (always under Burhan’s control), under protection of Italian special forces operators, in armoured SUVs. Then flown out by two Lockheed C-130J Hercules of the Italian air force and a Spanish Air Force’s Airbus A.400M to Djibouti. From there, Italians were transferred to Rome/Ciampino IAP in Italy by one Boeing KC-767 of the 14° Stormo (from Pratica di Mare AB). Spanish Air Force is known to have deployed five Airbus A.400M and one A.330 for this operation.

One of two C-130Js of the Italian Air Force, as seen in Djibouti.

As far as the Italian MoD goes, all the Italians - bar few doctors and nurses who chose to stay and continue running a medical facility in Port Sudan - have been evacuated. In comparison, rumor has it, the French evacuation operation was as ‘quick’ as the French delivery of shells calibre 155mm to Ukraine…

As far as other evacuations are concerned, the US effort was run by elements of the Navy’s SEAL Team Six, the US Army’s 3rd Special Forces Group and the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (‘Night Stalkers’). They evacuated the US Embassy in Khartoum. Great Britain has evacuated its Embassy in Khartoum, too, but about 4,000 British nationals remain in the country and some are complaining they feel ‘abandoned’….

Of course, wars are always ironic - especially when involving as many opportunist idiots as this one. Therefore, the RSF rushed to announce that it was Rapid Support Forces that (quote), ‘successfully evacuated 41 Italian citizens and embassy staff from Khartoum on Sunday evening. The mission was executed with utmost professionalism and efficiency, ensuring safety and security. The RSF's swift action is a testament to our commitment to protect citizens in times of crisis.’

….makes me wonder if they ever came to the idea to protect any of Sudanese civilians…

In that sense, the fighting around Khartoum just went on, with Burhan’s army launching multiple attacks on RSF positions around the city. As could be expected, a few of its lonesome T-72s that drove into Omdurman were knocked out because they were deployed without necessary infantry support, ending in this fashion:

In turn, Mohammed Dagalo (boss….erm…owner….erm… ‘commander’ of the RSF) complained about a ‘brutal air strike’ of the Sudanese Air Force, which should have destroyed one of his units rushing in direction of Khartoum, and killed (quote) ‘4,800 of his soldiers’.

Arguably, gauging by the way they’re driving and fighting, the RSF is more likely to have lost 48 troops in traffic accidents. But, this is indicative of the importance of the Sudanese air power for this conflict: because there is so little natural cover outside urban areas, the party controlling the sky can cause massive attrition to its enemy. Precisely this was the reason for the RSF targeting so many of Sudanese air bases and destroying and capturing so many aircraft and helicopters, on 15 April.

Another interesting detail regarding the RSF (and thanks to Milos): that gang appears to be operating Iranian-made Toophan anti-tank guided missiles. Toophans are a reverse-engineered version of the US-designed BGM-71 TOW.