Diplomatic exodus underway in Sudan as rival generals continue fighting

The US military has airlifted embassy officials out of Sudan and international governments have raced to evacuate their diplomatic staff and citizens trapped in the capital as rival generals battle for control of Africa’s third-largest country for a ninth day.

After a week of bloody battles between the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group (RSF) and the Sudanese army, US special forces swiftly evacuated 70 US embassy staffers from Khartoum to an undisclosed location in Ethiopia early Sunday.

Although American officials said it was too dangerous to carry out a government-coordinated evacuation of private citizens, other countries scrambled to evacuate citizens and diplomats.

France, Greece and other European nations were organising a mass exodus Sunday. French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Anne-Claire Legendre said France was undertaking the operation with the help of European allies.

The Greek foreign minister said the country had dispatched aircraft and special forces to its ally, Egypt, in preparation for an evacuation of 120 Greeks from Khartoum. Most evacuees were sheltering at a Greek Orthodox cathedral in the capital, Nikos Dendias said.

The Netherlands sent two air force Hercules C-130 planes and an Airbus A330 to Jordan to rescue 152 Dutch citizens in Sudan who made their way to an undisclosed evacuation point Sunday. 

Italy dispatched military jets to the Gulf of Aden nation of Djibouti to extract 140 Italian nationals from Sudan, many of whom have taken refuge in the embassy, said Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Sunday the country's armed forces evacuated diplomatic staff and their family members from Sudan.

Canada announced it was temporarily suspending diplomatic operations in Sudan. The government's diplomatic department said in a statement that diplomats would "temporarily work from a safe location outside of the country," without identifying that location.

Egypt urged citizens stranded in cities other than Khartoum to head to its consular offices in Port Sudan and Wadi Halfa in the north for evacuation, the state-run MENA news agency reported.

Meanwhile, Egypt’s minister for emigration and expatriates urged Egyptian citizens in Khartoum to shelter in place until evacuation instructions are announced.

Power-grabbing struggle

The fighting between the Sudanese armed forces and the powerful RSF paramilitary group has targeted and paralysed the country's main international airport, reducing a number of civilian aircraft to ruins and gutting at least one runway. Other airports across the country have also been knocked out of operation.

Overland travel across areas contested by the rival parties has proven dangerous. Khartoum is some some 840 kilometers from Port Sudan on the Red Sea.

But some countries have pressed ahead with the journey. Saudi Arabia on Saturday said the kingdom successfully evacuated 157 people, including 91 Saudi nationals and citizens of other countries.

Saudi state TV released footage of a large convoy of Saudis and other foreign nationals traveling by car and bus from Khartoum to Port Sudan, where a navy ship then ferried the evacuees across the Red Sea to the Saudi port of Jeddah.

The power struggle between the Sudanese military, led by General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces, led by General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, has dealt a harsh blow to Sudan's heady hopes for a democratic transition.

More than 420 people, including 264 civilians, have been killed and more than 3,700 have been wounded in the fighting.

Both Burhan and Dagalo, each craving international legitimacy, have accused each other of obstructing efforts to evacuate foreign diplomatic officials.

As violence rages, hospitals say they are struggling to cope. Many dead and wounded have been stranded by the fighting, according to the Sudan Doctors' Syndicate that monitors casualties, suggesting the death toll is probably higher than what is publicly known.

The conflict has left millions of Sudanese stranded at home — hiding from explosions, gunfire and looting — without adequate electricity, food or water.

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Source: TRT World