Countries launching rescue missions
– The main airport in capital Khartoum has been the site of heavy fighting and is under the control of the Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces that is battling the army.
Here is an overview of what some nations have done in efforts to take stranded citizens to safety.
Saudi Arabia led the first reported successful evacuations last Saturday, with naval operations picking up more than 150 people. Riyadh announced the “safe arrival” of 91 Saudi citizens and about 66 nationals from Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Tunisia, Pakistan, India, Bulgaria, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Canada and Burkina Faso.
On Sunday, the US military sent three Chinook helicopters to evacuate American embassy staff from Khartoum. US officials have warned that any wider effort to evacuate American citizens is unlikely in the coming days.
The British army has evacuated UK embassy staff and their families in a “complex and rapid” operation, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said. British citizens still trapped in Sudan have been calling on social media for help.
The Norwegian ambassador and other Norwegian diplomats have been evacuated, while Switzerland said 12 citizens had left with the help of other countries.
European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said yesterday that 1 000 EU citizens had been evacuated.
France airlifted 400 people of multiple nationalities to Djibouti. Among them were 25 Swedish citizens.
Italy evacuated about 200 people in a military operation on Sunday, including representatives of the Vatican.
Berlin said it airlifted 300 people, including Germans and other nationalities, following an aborted attempt last Wednesday.
A Spanish military plane with 100 passengers, 30 Spanish and 70 other nationalities, left on Sunday for Djibouti, Madrid said.
The Irish government has deployed 12 defence personnel to help evacuate 150 citizens.
Ankara on Sunday took some of its estimated 600 nationals by road from Khartoum and the southern city of Wad Madani. But plans were postponed from a site in Khartoum after “explosions” near a mosque designated as the assembly area, the embassy said.
Egypt’s military last week evacuated 177 of its soldiers from Sudan. On Sunday the foreign ministry said 436 citizens had left by land. Over 10 000 Egyptians are thought to live in Sudan.
Tunisia sent an airplane yesterday, with some citizens having already left aboard Saudi ships.
Chad is sending airplanes to collect 438 citizens who are leaving Khartoum by bus for Port Sudan, the government said.
Some 800 000 South Sudanese refugees are returning on their own, according to the UN refugee agency. –