INTERNATIONAL evacuation efforts were ramped up in Sudan on Monday as a temporary lull in fighting allowed European nations, China, and others from around the world to extract thousands of their citizens from Khartoum.
The recent eruption of violence between the army and a well-armed paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has resulted in a humanitarian crisis and left 420 people dead. Diplomats and aid workers were targeted in attacks, and the main airport was at the centre of the fighting. Despite pressure from concerned countries, the two sides have not abided by a temporary truce until recently.
The United States was able to evacuate embassy staff by military helicopter over the weekend, triggering a rush of evacuations by other countries. Some evacuations came under attack, including one carrying Qatari embassy staff and another carrying French citizens, one of whom was injured, according to a Reuters report.
France and Germany announced on Monday that they had evacuated around 700 people, without giving a breakdown of their nationalities. Several countries sent military planes to fly people out from the capital, while others took people by convoy to Port Sudan on the Red Sea, about 800 km (500 miles) by road from Khartoum. The evacuation of international staff from Darfur, the western region where fighting has also escalated, is also underway, with some heading to Chad and others to South Sudan.
The killing of aid workers, including three from the World Food Programme, has led the UN agency to pause its operations in the country, which relies on food aid for about a quarter of its people. The army and the RSF jointly staged a coup in 2021 but fell out during negotiations to integrate the two groups and form a civilian government four years after long-ruling autocrat Omar al-Bashir was toppled.
Their rivalry has raised the risk of a wider conflict that could draw in outside powers. People have reportedly fled clashes in several regions including Darfur’s three states, Blue Nile State on the border with Ethiopia and South Sudan, and North Kordofan State southwest of Khartoum, according to Reuters.
