Secretary of State Antony Blinken said a US diplomatic convoy in Sudan was fired upon but everyone in the group was safe.
(Bloomberg) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken said a US diplomatic convoy in Sudan was fired upon but everyone in the group was safe.
“This action was reckless, it was irresponsible and of course unsafe — a diplomatic convoy, with diplomatic plates, a US flag, being fired upon,” he said Tuesday.
Blinken said at a meeting of Group of Seven foreign ministers in the Japanese mountain resort of Karuizawa that the US had deep concern about the overall Sudan security environment. He added that he made clear any attacks on US diplomats were unacceptable in calls he had with generals on opposite sides of the fighting.
“We will continue to track this very closely and very carefully,” Blinken said.
Blinken said it looked like the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group was responsible for the attack on the convoy, adding the immediate priority is a quick cease-fire so people can get the help they need.
The Sudanese group battling the army for control of the North African nation ruled out a cease-fire as diplomats struggled to halt fighting that threatens to erupt into a full-scale civil war.
Read: Sudan Ex-Warlord Rebuffs Cease-Fire as Conflict Escalates
Clashes resumed at dawn in the capital, Khartoum, on Monday and continued throughout the day, with some of the most intense violence around the main international airport and army headquarters, along with the neighboring city of Omdurman. Hospitals in the capital were hit by heavy artillery, doctors and labor unions said, as the civilian death toll climbed to at least 97.
Blinken spoke separately with General Abdel Fattah al Burhan, commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces, and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commander of the Rapid Support Forces, State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said in a statement.
Blinken “underscored the urgency of reaching a cease-fire to permit the delivery of humanitarian assistance to those affected by the fighting, the reunification of Sudanese families and allow the international community in Khartoum to make sure its presence is secure,” Patel said.
(Updates with more comments from Blinken.)
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