New Delhi: Amid large-scale violence in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, France has begun to evacuate its citizens and diplomatic staff from the war-torn country where fighting between rival forces has entered its second week, the foreign ministry announced on Sunday.
The ministry said it had kicked off the “rapid evacuation operation” and that European citizens and those from “allied partner countries” would also be assisted, without giving further details, reported news agency AFP.
A dispute between the Army and the para-military over a proposed timeline for handing over power to a civilian government has led to clashes between the heavily armed supporters of the two groups for the last 15 days that have reportedly left over 200 people dead.
It comes amid the evacuations of US government personnel from embassies in the capital Khartoum, as well as the evacuations of civilians from countries like Qatar, Egypt, Canada, India, Burkina Faso, and the United Arab Emirates by Saudi officials.
US officials told reporters that the operation evacuated fewer than 100 people. "We evacuated all of the U.S. personnel and dependents assigned to Embassy Khartoum," said Under Secretary of State for Management John Bass.
Saudi foreign ministry said that more than 150 people were rescued from the violence-hit country, including foreign diplomats and officials. 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.
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.
According to reports, over 400 individuals have been slain in the conflict, including an Indian.
Fighting has erupted between soldiers loyal to Sudanese army leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy, paramilitary Rapid Support soldiers (RSF) commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.
The war began in 2021, when a coup between Sudan's military chief and his deputy on the ruling council erupted, destabilising a plan for a civilian democracy following the demise of longstanding tyrant Omar al-Bashir in 2019. Elections were scheduled to take place before the end of 2023.