Toronto/CMEDIA: Roughly 200 troops will be deployed by Canada to help coordinate the evacuation of civilians from war-torn Sudan, Canada Defence Minister Anita Anand confirmed Wednesday.
Anand told a hastily assembled group of reporters, ahead of question period in the House of Commons, that two C-130J Hercules tr ansports are in east Africa preparing for flights into Khartoum “as soon as conditions on the ground permit.”
Global Affairs Canada reported saying that up to 1,800 Canadians are trapped between the warring parties in Sudan and roughly 700 of them have indicated they want out.
A company of infantry soldiers from Camp Petawawa, Ont. is expected to be deployed, Defence sources were reported to say, to provide force protection and help coordinate the evacuation.
To provide additional oversight and coordination, an element of the 1st Canadian Division headquarters has also been sent.
A senior federal official who spoke on background at a technical briefing in Ottawa. said that those troops will operate out of Jordan.
Anand neither gave a precise breakdown of the military contingent leaving it unclear if the numbers she presented include the air detachment, nor did she confirm the locations of the aircraft or where the troops are headed.
The data provided by the Military flight tracker Steffan Watkins shows the transport planes were last reported in the east African country of Djibouti.
The presence of the aircraft in Dijibouti was confirmed on Wednesday by the Federal officials, speaking on background Wednesday, and that they’re accompanied by a small contingent of Canada’s special operations force.
Canadian frigate HMCS Montreal and the supply vessel MV Asterix are which are in the region, said the Federal officials have moved into position with allied warships off the port of Sudan in anticipation of a possible seaborne evacuation.
With their focus on the air evacuation route as many evacuees would have to travel more than 800 kilometres to reach the port, Canadian officials noted that a UN convoy had to pass through 22 checkpoints “through very dangerous terrain” to reach the port.
Anand said the movement of Canadian personnel and equipment is already underway and added,
“The Canadian Armed Forces is providing military assistance for Canada’s effort to evacuate Canadian eligible persons from Sudan. Canadian Armed Forces personnel and assets have been deployed to the region and are planning for evacuation operations in what remains a hostile and volatile security environment,” she told reporters.
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