RUSSIAN Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has stat
ed that Sudan’s legitimate authorities have the right to use the services of the Wagner group, a Moscow-backed private paramilitary company. Lavrov made the comments during a press conference at the UN headquarters on Tuesday.
He cited the Central African Republic, Mali, and other countries whose governments have turned to such services as having the right to do so. The Wagner Group has been operating in Ukraine, Syria, Libya, and some African countries, including Mali and the Central African Republic.
The comments come amid concerns over the company’s activities in Sudan. On Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed ‘deep concern’ over the military company’s activities in the war-torn country, saying that it ‘brings more death and destruction with it.’ Fighting in Sudan has killed at least 459 people and wounded more than 4,000, according to UN agencies. The situation has prompted thousands of Sudanese to flee to Egypt, with the UN warning of a potential exodus of up to 270,000 refugees to Sudan’s poorer neighbours Chad and South Sudan.
While a US and Saudi Arabia-brokered ceasefire between Sudan’s warring generals has brought some calm to the capital, there are reports of fresh air strikes and paramilitaries claiming to have seized a major oil refin
ery and power plant.
Foreign nations have been working to evacuate their nationals from the country, but security fears were compounded when the World Health Organisation warned of a ‘huge biological risk’ after fighters occupied a Khartoum laboratory holding samples of infectious diseases. Over 6,400 people have fled Sudan in the evacuations, including by sea to Saudi Arabia and by aircraft to Jordan and Djibouti.
