SUDAN CONFLICT: Nairobi Closes Down Embassy Leaving Kenyans Stranded

The Embassy of Kenya in Khartoum, Sudan has been shut down by the Kenyan government, a government official said.
The diplomatic mission has been closed because of continuing harassment of diplomatic officials by armed groups in the war-torn country.
Kenya’s Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs Sing’oei Korir confirmed through a tweet that the embassy had remained open to facilitate the evacuation of Kenyans in Sudan.
The closure comes days after President William Ruto hosted Sudan’s Vice President Malik Agar amid efforts to de-escalate the war that has left many civilians dead and others displaced.
The Kenyan leader on Friday last week hosted Yousif Izzat, the special envoy of the leader of RSF, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
The engagements between Ruto and special envoys representing the two Sudanese warring generals revolved around giving a detailed report to the Kenyan President regarding the ongoing crisis in Khartoum from their perspective.
According to Reuters, the talks brokered by Washington and Riyadh have helped reach several ceasefires deals over the past weeks, but residents have continued to report fighting despite the agreements.
President Ruto who has been tasked by a regional bloc, IGAD together with other Heads, to help in reconciling the conflicting groups has previously called out the two generals for the fighting in Khartoum.
He has maintained that the African continent will not recognize any military rule in the troubled nation, arguing that military generals have no business whatsoever in destroying the hard-earned years of developing Sudan and that they will be held accountable.
“The bombing of buildings, hospitals, and infrastructure is unacceptable. Those generals have no business, they have no reason to destroy a country that has been built painstakingly by the people of this continent, by our brothers and sisters in Sudan,” said Ruto last month in Nairobi.
President Ruto further noted that there is no concrete reason for the fighting as the matters both camps are agitating for can be resolved through dialogue.
He said Kenya is committed to stopping the continent from sliding into military rule, an era, he said, belongs to the past.
Kenya had earlier offered Lokichogio as one of the sites where humanitarian access can be airlifted for those in distress in Sudan.
The conflict that broke out a month ago has killed hundreds of people, sent more than 200,000 into neighboring states, displaced another 70,000 inside the country, and risks drawing in outside powers and destabilizing the region.
Rights groups have warned of a humanitarian catastrophe if the conflict continues.
The United States has already imposed the first sanctions related to the conflict in Sudan, warning it will hold accountable all those undermining peace.
The sanctions target two firms associated with the Sudanese Armed Forces and two others linked to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
The White House also said it was imposing visa restrictions “against actors who are perpetuating the violence”, but did not name them.