Sweden Approves Sending Troops to Evacuate Nationals

The Swedish parliament approved today the government’s plan to send troops to Sudan to evacuate Swedish nationals there.

The Swedish parliament approved a proposal to allow the government to send a unit of up to 400 soldiers to evacuate Swedish citizens and foreigners from Sudan, according to the Committee on Foreign Affairs’ proposal.

The Committee said that sending these forces should be done in close coordination with other countries and international organizations.

The approval comes a day after the Minister of Foreign Affairs Tobias Billstrom and the Minister of Defense Pal Jonson announced that they will ask Parliament to agree to send an armed unit to Sudan to evacuate nationals, since Swedish Parliament’s approval is a condition for sending armed forces abroad.

Jonson said that the unit must be able to carry out protection, rescue, and liberation tasks on its own or with partner countries.

Since April 15, armed clashes have continued between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces. The situation there prompted a number of countries to evacuate their nationals from Sudan.

Source: Qatar News Agency