Sudan fighting: Army says foreign nationals to be evacuated

British, American, French and Chinese diplomats and citizens are to be evacuated by air from Sudan as fighting continues in Sudan, according to a statement from the Sudanese military.

Army chief Fatah al-Burhan has agreed to facilitate and secure their evacuation “in the coming hours,” it said.

He is trapped in a bitter power struggle with the leader of a rival paramilitary faction, the Rapid Support Forces.

The UK government said it was preparing for “many contingencies”.

Previous plans to evacuate foreigners have not been implemented due to safety concerns.

British, American, French and Chinese citizens and diplomats will be flown in military transport planes from the capital Khartoum, according to a military statement.

The British government said it was “doing everything possible to support British citizens and diplomats in Khartoum”.

The defense ministry said it was working with the foreign ministry on a number of preparations, but did not specify whether those plans included immediate evacuation.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak chaired a Cobra meeting, an emergency response committee, on the situation in Sudan on Saturday morning.

Saudi Arabia also announced that it was arranging the evacuation of its citizens and those of its “brother” countries. State TV station Al-Ekbariya reported that Saudi citizens and other nationals arrived in the port city of Jeddah on Saturday.

Khartoum’s international airport has been closed due to the riots, and foreign embassies, including those from the UK and the US, are unable to send their citizens home.

The conflict has entered its second week, despite both the military and the RSF agreeing to a three-day ceasefire beginning Friday to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr.

Despite the ceasefire, sporadic gunfire and airstrikes were heard in the capital on Saturday.

Former foreign minister Mariam Al Mahdi, who has taken refuge in Khartoum, told the BBC that the ceasefire was “not taken at all”.

“We have had no electricity for the past 24 hours. No water for the past 6 days,” she said.

Medical teams have been targeted in the fighting, she said, adding: “There are rotting corpses of young people in the streets.”

On April 15, violent street fighting erupted in Khartoum after disagreements between General Barhan and the leaders of both sides, Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedi” Dagalo of the RSF, over how to operate Sudan.

Both were at the top of Sudan’s current military junta, which formed after a 2019 coup ousted longtime leader Omar al-Bashir.

They were supposed to consolidate their forces, but the RSF resisted the change, mobilizing an escalated force into all-out fighting last week.

More than 400 people have died, according to the World Health Organization. The death toll is believed to be much higher as people struggle to get to hospitals.

Thousands, mostly civilians, have been injured and medical centers are under pressure to cope with the influx of patients.

Along with Khartoum, the western region of Darfur, where the RSF first emerged, has also been severely affected by the fighting.

The United Nations warns up to 20,000 people, mostly women and children, who have fled Sudan seeking safety in Chad, which borders Darfur.