Sudan army: Rescue of foreign citizens, diplomats expected
The Sudanese army said Saturday it was coordinating efforts to evacuate American, British, Chinese and French citizens and diplomats from Sudan on military aircraft, as the bloody fighting that has engulfed the vast African nation entered its second week.
The military said that its chief, Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, had spoken to leaders of several countries who have requested safe evacuations of their citizens and diplomats from Sudan. The prospect has vexed officials as most major airports have become battlegrounds and movement out of the capital, Khartoum, has proven intensely dangerous.
Burhan "agreed to provide the necessary assistance to secure such evacuations for various countries," the military said.
Questions have swirled over how the mass rescues of foreign citizens would unfold, with Sudan's main international airport closed and millions of people sheltering indoors. As battles between the Sudanese army led by Burhan and a rival powerful paramilitary group rage in and around Khartoum, including in residential areas, foreign countries have struggled to repatriate their citizens — some of whom are running short on food and basic supplies while hunkered down.
Burhan said that some diplomats from Saudi Arabia had already been evacuated from Port Sudan, the country's main seaport on the Red Sea, and airlifted back to the kingdom. He said that Jordan's diplomats would soon be evacuated in the same way. The port is in Sudan's far east, some 840 kilometers (520 miles) from Khartoum.
The Pentagon said earlier this week it was moving additional troops and equipment to a Naval base in the tiny Gulf of Aden nation of Djibouti to prepare for the evacuation of U.S. Embassy personnel. But the White House said Friday it had no plans...
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