Several countries have begun evacuating their citizens and embassy staff from Sudan as violent clashes between the army and paramilitary forces continue to escalate in the country.
The main airport in the capital Khartoum is currently under the control of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and has been the site of heavy fighting.
As a result, some evacuation operations are being carried out from Port Sudan, which is located 850 kilometres (530 miles) away from Khartoum on the Red Sea, stated a report in NDTV.
Saudi Arabia leads first successful evacuation
On Saturday, Saudi Arabia led the first successful evacuation of more than 150 individuals including foreign diplomats and officials from Port Sudan. In total, 91 Saudi citizens and 66 nationals from 12 other countries, including Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Tunisia, Pakistan, India, Bulgaria, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Canada, and Burkina Faso, were safely evacuated.
US, UK, France, and Turkey evacuate diplomats and staff
On Sunday, the US military sent three Chinook helicopters to evacuate American embassy staff from Khartoum. More than 100 US forces took part in the rescue operation to extract fewer than 100 people. The French government conducted a “complicated” rescue operation to evacuate around 100 individuals of multiple nationalities from Sudan.
The first French flight out of the country has already departed, and a second flight is expected to leave on Sunday evening. The British army has also evacuated UK embassy staff and their families from Sudan. Meanwhile, Ankara began operations on Sunday to evacuate some of its estimated 600 nationals by road from two Khartoum districts and the southern city of Wad Madani.
Other countries planning evacuations
South Korea and Japan have deployed forces to nearby countries and are currently preparing for evacuations. India has two air force planes on standby in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and a navy ship has arrived in Port Sudan. However, any evacuations will depend on the security situation.
The Sudanese army is also coordinating efforts to evacuate diplomats from China. The Libyan embassy in Khartoum evacuated 83 Libyans from the capital and took them to Port Sudan, while the Tunisian embassy has announced an evacuation operation planned for Monday to extract citizens remaining in the country.
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