In the embattled Sudan, there was hope for the first time that foreign nationals who had been stranded there could be repatriated in the near future. De facto President and Commander-in-Chief of the Army Abdel Fattah al-Burhan agreed to the evacuation of citizens and diplomatic officials. An army spokesman said in a statement the United States, Britain, France and China would begin evacuating the capital Khartoum by military transport aircraft “in the coming hours.” By early Saturday evening, however, no western citizens had been evacuated.
The states initially did not provide their own details about their plans. Ongoing, heavy fighting in and around the contested airport in Khartoum has so far prevented foreign nationals from flying out.
Al-Burhan has therefore promised to “facilitate and guarantee” the evacuation and to provide the countries “with the necessary support to ensure this”. The opposing paramilitary RSF, which has been openly fighting the Sudanese army for the past week, said in a statement it was “ready for a complete ceasefire” during an agreed ceasefire to allow evacuations. Agreed cease-fires have been violated time and time again.
The first delegations were evacuated
A Saudi Arabian delegation has already been evacuated from the eastern city of Port Sudan, the army spokesman said. A Jordanian delegation should also be flown out of Port Sudan later on Saturday. There are almost 850 kilometers between Khartoum and Port Sudan. According to the Saudi television channel Al-Arabia, five Saudi ships have also begun to bring 158 nationals from 11 countries from Sudan to the Saudi port of Jeddah on the Red Sea. According to Al-Arabia, Saudis, Bulgarians and citizens of Qatar, Kuwait and Canada were on board.
Since Saturday last week, the army of the north-east African country has been fighting for power against the once-allied paramilitary unit RSF. The airport in Khartoum has been at the center of hostilities since the beginning of the conflict and is therefore inaccessible. Diplomats have been trying for days to find a resilient ceasefire for the evacuation.
What is the situation in Sudan?
The arms are in control of all airports in the country except those in Khartoum and the city of Njala in the South Darfur region, Al-Burhan told Al-Arabia broadcaster live by phone. He remains in control of the army and will only let his rival and former deputy Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, the leader of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), get away “in a coffin,” Al-Burhan said.
The US embassy in Khartoum said the ongoing fighting and the closure of the airport in the capital make it impossible to evacuate private US citizens at this time. The embassy continues to closely monitor the situation in Khartoum and the surrounding areas, it said in a statement. Aside from skirmishes, there are recent reports of raids, home invasions and looting.
The embassy also received “incomplete information” about convoys traveling from Khartoum to Port Sudan, it said. The embassy is not able to support convoys. Traveling with you is therefore at your own risk.
Meanwhile, according to the Defense Ministry, the Bundeswehr is making preparations for a new attempt to evacuate German citizens. On Wednesday, an attempt at a diplomatic evacuation using Luftwaffe aircraft, but without any major deployment of soldiers, was aborted.
Sudanese are also trying to flee the fighting. According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), up to 20,000 people have already fled to neighboring Chad in the past few days. Thousands more people have been displaced from heavily contested areas within the country.
