Sunday 19 / May / 2024
Khartoum: With the fighting in Sudan entering its second week, the nation's military agreed to coordinate evacuation efforts for diplomats and citizens from the US, UK, China and France. In a statement, the military said the Saudi diplomatic mission has already been evacuated.
Saudi state TV announced on Saturday afternoon the arrival of the evacuated personnel from the coastal Port Sudan city to the Red Sea city of Jeddah. The evacuation vessel carried 50 Saudi citizens and a number of citizens from "friendly countries."
The news comes a day after the US State Department said the situation was still too risky for an evacuation of embassy personnel. Later in the day, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) said they were ready to "partially" open "all airports" in Sudan to evacuate foreign citizens. However, it is not possible to verify which airports they control.
On Saturday, the military said the US, UK, China and France will evacuate their diplomats and nationals on military planes.
Sudan's army has been locked in battle with the Rapid Support Forces and its leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. Previous allies worked together to overthrow the interim Sudanese government in 2021, are now clashing for power with neither party gaining a visible advantage yet.
The struggle for power in Sudan — which has already killed hundreds and injured thousands — continued on Saturday as gunfire shattered the temporary truce between the forces of the country's rival generals.
The army, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, had agreed on Friday to a ceasefire for three days in respect of Eid al-Fitr and to allow for humanitarian services. Overnight, the heavy explosions that previously rocked the capital Khartoum, had subsided. But bursts of gunfire resumed in the morning.
Two previous 24-hour ceasefires announced earlier in the week were also ignored.
