General Command of the Armed Forces
Press statement
Following an initiative by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the armed forces agreed with representatives of the international organization to evacuate civilians (including foreign nationals) who were trapped in St. Mary’s church in Al-Shajara in Khartoum. The procedures included coordinating with the organization to determine the route (Remaila cemetry-Rowad complex-Best Care Hospital) with the entrance to be from the north and the hand over to be done at Best Care Hospital.
The representatives of the organization did not abide by the agreed upon points whereby they:
1: Entered the area from the south instead of the north as per the agreement, thus completely violating the agreed upon route.
2: The convoy of the representatives of the organization came with armed car belonging to the rebels with a 7’12mm machine gun and its crew on board and approached our defensive positions, which resulted in the convoy coming under fire and a number of injuries among the representatives of the organization.
The armed forces regrets this incident that has occurred as a result of the representatives of the organization not abiding by the coordination points that were agreed upon at a time when we confirm our full cooperation with all international humanitarian organizations. We stress the necessity of abiding by previously agreed upon arrangements to avoid what can put civilian lives at risk.
Office of the spokesperson of the armed forces