Canada pauses rescue flights
One plane develops mechanical problems while militants shoot at Turkish evacuation aircraft
The government’s plan to airlift more Canadians from the deadly conflict in Sudan was temporarily grounded Friday after one plane had mechanical problems and militants shot at a Turkish evacuation flight — and officials warned time is running out to safely rescue people by air.
Speaking to reporters in Dartmouth, N.S., Defence Minister Anita Anand said two more government flights were supposed to take off Friday morning, but one of Canada’s military planes — a C-130J Hercules — had a “mechanical issue” that was later resolved. The operation hit another dramatic snag when a Turkish rescue plane came under fire as it travelled to the Wadi Sayiddna airbase north of Khartoum, which Canada and other countries are using as an evacuation hub, officials confirmed Friday.
One government official said a Turkish crew member was wounded and that neither side of the Sudanese conflict — which is pitting two armed factions led by feuding generals against each other — had claimed responsibility for the attack. The airport was closed for several hours but later reopened as Canadian planes were en route to Sudan to stage their delayed evacuations, said the officials, who briefed journalists about the situation Friday afternoon on condition they weren’t named.
The officials said the Hercules planes have enough space — each can carry 100 evacuees — for all eligible Canadians who have asked to be airlifted from the Khartoum area in the “near term.”
Of the 1,728 Canadians in Sudan who had registered with the government, 392 were still asking for help as of Friday evening, according to Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly’s office.
Joly’s spokesperson said her office did not expect to release updated numbers from Friday’s delayed rescue flights until later that night.
But even as the planes were in the air, officials warned the “window” to safely conduct airlifts from Sudan is “closing quickly.” There were questions surrounding the reliability and duration of the latest ceasefire, which was reportedly agreed to just hours before the Turkish rescue flight came under fire. Heavy gunfire and frequent explosions were reported in Khartoum and the surrounding area on Friday, as mediators from the United Nations,
the United States and a host of African and Arab countries pressed the warring factions to stop the fighting, the Associated Press reported.
The United Kingdom, meanwhile, said it would stop its own evacuation flights — which had rescued more than 1,500 people from Sudan — on Saturday, citing a “significant decline” in the number of British nationals asking for help to get out.
While warning the availability of future rescue flights is uncertain, government officials said the Canadian military is working with the United States and other countries to ensure there is a way for evacuees to travel to the Port of Sudan to potentially get out of the country if the air evacuations become too perilous.
“The situation is dangerous. It is volatile, it is intense, and we need to do whatever we can to ensure the safety and security of Canadians,” Anand said Friday, adding that all options to help get people out by sea or land are on the table.
The Canadian Armed Forces has around 200 soldiers and two Hercules aircraft in the region and Canada staged two evacuation flights on Thursday. Officials said those flights, which took off with dozens of empty seats, carried Canadian citizens, permanent residents and their dependants, as well as people from other countries, and Sudanese staff at the Canadian embassy and their dependants.
Until Thursday, Canada had relied on other countries who were sending planes to evacuate their citizens from the conflict in the northeast African country. As of Friday afternoon, around 300 Canadians had received help leaving Sudan, officials said.
Since April 15, Sudan has been gripped by fighting between armed factions led by feuding generals who were part of a military coup in 2021. Tens of thousands of people have fled the conflict, the United Nations refugee agency said Friday. As many as 20,000 have crossed Sudan’s border to seek refuge in neighbouring Chad and those fleeing are in “dire need” of food, water and shelter, according to the International Organization for Migration.
The UN is also reporting that at least 512 people have been killed so far, describing the death toll — provided by the Sudanese Ministry of Health — as “almost certainly a very conservative estimate.”
The situation is dangerous. It is volatile, it is intense, and we need to do whatever we can to ensure the safety and security of Canadians.
ANITA ANAND DEFENCE MINISTER