Several countries have evacuated diplomats and their citizens from Sudan’s capital as fierce fighting rages in Khartoum.
The US and UK announced Sunday that they had flown diplomats out of the country.
France, Germany and Italy are among other countries are presently organising evacuations, starting today – Sunday.
A vicious power struggle has ensured between the regular army and a powerful paramilitary force, a situation that has led to violence across the country.
US authorities said they had airlifted no fewer than 100 people with three Chinook helicopters Sunday morning in a “fast and clean” operation.
The US embassy in Khartoum is now closed, and a tweet on its official feed says it is not safe enough for the government to evacuate private US citizens.
The UK government said it managed to airlift British diplomats and their families out of the country in what was described as a “complex and rapid” operation.
Foreign Minister, James Cleverly said options to evacuate the remaining British nationals in Sudan were “severely limited”.
Several other countries were conducting evacuation operations on Sunday:
France has evacuated about100 people by air, according to French media. Some were nationals of other countries including the UK and Germany.
Similarly, a handful of Dutch citizens left Khartoum on the French plane and the Netherlands hopes to airlift more citizens out Sunday evening
Germany is also in the process of evacuating its nationals, with its first military plane, landing in Khartoum Sunday afternoon.
Italy‘s evacuation operation has also begun, according to local media
Other countries successfully evacuated people on Saturday. Over 150 people, mostly citizens of Gulf countries, as well as Egypt, Pakistan and Canada were evacuated by sea to the Saudi Arabian port of Jeddah.
Meanwhile, there are reports that internet connectivity has almost totally collapsed in Sudan. This could seriously hinder the coordination of help for those trapped in Khartoum and other cities.
The power struggle has seen heavy bombardment in the capital city, with hundreds killed and thousands injured.
There have been desperate calls for help from many foreign students – from Africa, Asia and the Middle East – who are also stuck in Khartoum, a city of some six million people. BBC
Follow The Eagle Online Channel on WhatsApp
