British lawmaker and Minister of State for Development and Africa, Andrew Mitchell, told Parliament on Monday that a French special forces operator was wounded by gunfire outside of the French Embassy in Khartoum sometime over the weekend as evacuation efforts were underway to transport diplomats and civilians out of Sudan.
Mitchell claimed that “When the French were seeking to evacuate their diplomats, and some people from the wider French government platform… they were shot at as they came out through the embassy gateway and I understand one of their special forces is gravely ill.”
#Soudan | Les opérations d'évacuation se poursuivent. Avec la 2e et 3e rotation de cette nuit, 388 personnes ont été évacuées, ressortissants français mais également de nombreuses autres nationalités : ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
— France Diplomatie???? (@francediplo) April 24, 2023
So far, there has not been any official statement by France or its military about the alleged shooting.
Over the weekend, France carried out “Operation Sagittarius,” which successfully evacuated “hundreds” of French diplomats, civilians, and other foreign nationals from the Sudanese capital. French officials reported that a rotating deployment of Airbus A400M transport aircraft, backed by special operations and rapid deployment forces, helped airlift people out of the country.
