France moved quickly to evacuate civilians from Sudan
The mission highlights the strategic value of its Djibouti base
Night had fallen in Paris on April 22nd when the call came through to the French president, Emmanuel Macron, from his military adviser asking for permission to evacuate civilians from Khartoum. It was a high-risk operation, in which special forces would secure a Sudanese air base in a war zone.
This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “French lesson”
Middle East & Africa May 6th 2023
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