More than 150 people were rescued from war-torn Sudan, including foreign diplomats and officials, according to the Saudi foreign ministry. A ship carrying Saudi citizens and other nationals arrived in Jeddah on Saturday (April 22), the first announced evacuation of civilians since the fighting began. Earlier this week, Foreign minister S Jaishankar discussed the evacuation of Indians from Sudan with his Saudi counterpart, Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud.
The evacuation was carried out by the kingdom's naval forces, with assistance from other branches of the army, according to a statement from the foreign ministry.
It announced the "safe arrival" of 91 Saudi citizens as well as approximately 66 nationals from 12 other countries: Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Tunisia, Pakistan, India, Bulgaria, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Canada, and Burkina Faso.
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Last week, violence erupted in Sudan between forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and those loyal to his deputy-turned-rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. Daglo is the commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Earlier, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan stated that he had received requests from leaders of several countries to "facilitate and ensure the safety of evacuating citizens and diplomatic missions," adding that the evacuations would begin "in the coming hours." According to him, the United States, Britain, France, and China intend to airlift their nationals using military jets.
In a coup in 2021, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Daglo seized power. Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands have been injured in Sudan's capital Khartoum as heavy gunfire from both sides continues, according to AFP.