Diplomats have been among the first evacuees.
Several countries have started evacuating their citizens from Sudan over the weekend. For example, the Swedish Parliament approved on Sunday the sending of an evacuation force of up to 400 soldiers to the country.
The breakdown of ceasefires between the Sudanese army and RSF forces have hampered the launch of evacuation operations this week. There has been heavy fighting around Khartoum airport, which is held by RSF forces.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tells On Twitter (you will switch to another service), that the country’s armed forces have evacuated diplomatic staff and their family members from Sudan. Minister of Defense Ben Wallace says that more than 1,200 army personnel participated in the organization and implementation of the operation.
The United States also announced early on Sunday Finnish time that all American diplomats and their families have been safely evacuated by military helicopters. The operation on the ground in Khartoum is said to have lasted less than an hour.
According to Reuters, the total number of people evacuated by the United States was less than 100. There were also some diplomats from other countries among the evacuees.
On Saturday, Saudi Arabia was the first country to say that it had succeeded in evacuating people from Sudan. It brought a total of 157 own citizens and citizens of other countries to Jeddah by sea.
Iraq has also evacuated its diplomats from Khartoum.
Violence against convoys?
Among other things, the French Foreign Ministry announced on Sunday that it had started a rapid evacuation operation in Sudan and added that it would also help European citizens and citizens of allied partner countries on the ground.
The RSF forces and the Sudanese army both blame each other for the shooting at the French convoy, in which one Frenchman is said to have been wounded. The French Foreign Ministry has not commented on the matter.
The Sudanese army also accuses RSF forces of attacking and robbing a Qatari evacuation convoy on its way to the port of Khartoum. Neither RSF nor Qatar have commented on the claim.
Turkey said on Sunday morning that it had started evacuating its citizens by land from Khartoum and Wad Madan. However, the evacuation had to be postponed due to explosions near one of the meeting places.
Several countries are trying to evacuate
Numerous other countries are also trying to take their citizens to safety.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands Wopke Hoekstra said on Sunday that the country had begun to evacuate as part of an international operation.
Italy is also trying to evacuate around 200 citizens of Italy and other European countries late Sunday.
Several countries are to carry out the evacuations from Djibouti. For example, Greece has ordered its air force planes and soldiers to Egypt to wait for the evacuation operation.
Canada, on the other hand, has said, without commenting on the evacuations, that it will suspend the operation of its embassy in Sudan, and that its diplomats will continue their work from a safe place outside Sudan.
Sources: Reuters, AFP
The news is updated.