In Sudan, army units under the command of army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan have been fighting the RSF militia led by General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo for the past two weeks. More than 500 people have been killed since then.
A 72-hour ceasefire brokered by the United States came into force on Tuesday, which was extended by another 72 hours until midnight on Sunday shortly before it expired on Thursday. However, so far all ceasefires have been broken.
In Khartoum, many people continue to try to flee the fighting. There is no longer electricity or tap water, and the internet and telephone only work sporadically. Gasoline, cash and food are becoming scarce. Tens of thousands of refugees have already arrived in neighboring countries, mainly in Ethiopia and Egypt.
The evacuation of foreigners is now mainly via the sea. A convoy of vehicles organized by the United States reached the port city of Port Sudan on Saturday. As the US State Department announced, in addition to US citizens, local staff from Sudan and nationals of allied countries were on board. They were to be taken from Port Sudan across the Red Sea to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller did not say how many people were in the convoy. But he spoke of hundreds of evacuees – in addition to the US diplomats who had been flown out of Sudan a week ago.
Other countries, including Germany, France and Great Britain, had brought their citizens to safety by plane in the past few days. The Bundeswehr says it has flown around 780 people from over 40 nations out of Sudan since Sunday last week, including 230 Germans.