Foreign states rush high-risk Sudan evacuation, some foreign citizens hurt
KHARTOUM: The armed forces of the United States and the United Kingdom have evacuated embassy staff from Sudan, while other nations rushed to get their citizens to safety as rival military factions battled in the capital Khartoum on Sunday.
The eruption of fighting eight days ago between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group has triggered a humanitarian crisis, killed 420 people and trapped millions of Sudanese without access to basic services.
As people attempted to flee the chaos, countries began landing planes and organising convoys in Khartoum to pull out their nationals. Some foreign citizens were injured. Gunfire rang out across the city and dark smoke hung overhead, a Reuters reporter said.
The warring sides accused each other of attacking a French convoy, both saying one French person was wounded. France’s Foreign Ministry, which had earlier said it was evacuating diplomatic staff and citizens, did not comment.
France said a French plane carrying around a hundred people including the European Union delegation in Khartoum along with other nationalities had left for Djibouti, and a second plane with a similar number aboard was due to take off shortly.
The risks were also evident in army accusations that the RSF looted a Qatari convoy heading to Port Sudan. In separate incidents, an Iraqi citizen was killed during clashes and Egypt said one of its diplomats had been wounded.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken monitors the operation to evacuate US personnel from its embassy in Khartoum, Sudan while at the State Department in Washington, US April 22, 2023. —Reuters
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken monitors the operation to evacuate US personnel from its embassy in Khartoum, Sudan while at the State Department in Washington, US April 22, 2023. —Reuters
The efforts to extract foreign residents frustrated some Sudanese who felt the rival factions showed less concern for the safety of locals.
“Seeing the foreigners leave made me upset because I see there’s some groups that were helped by the army and RSF, meanwhile we keep getting hit,” said Alsadig Alfatih, who on Sunday managed to leave his home for the first time since the fighting erupted and said he would head to Egypt.
Pope appeals
The Sudanese army said it worked with the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and France on evacuation operations at Wadi Sedna, an air base north of Khartoum. Qatar and Jordan’s operations were conducted overland to Port Sudan, the army said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that Canada had also extracted its diplomats and was trying to support its local staff.
Egypt, India, Nigeria and Libya were among the countries that said they were working to bring home their people.
Pope Francis appealed for an end to the violence during his Sunday midday prayer in Rome.
The fighting broke out in Khartoum and other parts of the country on April 15, four years after long-ruling autocrat Omar al-Bashir was toppled.
The army and RSF jointly staged a coup in 2021 but fell out during negotiations to integrate the two groups and form a civilian government.
US officials said its special forces evacuated fewer than 100 people on Saturday in an operation that took just one hour on the ground.
“We did not take any small-arms fire on the way in and were able to get in and out without issue,” said Lieutenant General Douglas Sims.