The security situation in Sudan has deteriorated sharply in recent days, prompting many countries to evacuate their diplomats and citizens. A three-day nationwide ceasefire to facilitate humanitarian efforts and evacuations appears to be holding.
After 48 hours of intense negotiations, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and its rival, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), have agreed to a nationwide ceasefire starting at midnight on April 24, to last for 72 hours. Previous attempted ceasefires have failed.
The two parties continued to exchange fire on Monday, with heavy gunfire heard in certain areas in the capital city of Khartoum. Witnesses said constant gunfire was heard on Monday morning at the Khartoum International Airport and along the Nile River. A stray bullet hit the compound of Xinhua’s Khartoum bureau.
Brutal fighting erupted in the Sudanese capital on April 15 and swiftly escalated in different parts of the country.
Neither side has announced casualties. According to data from the Sudanese Health Ministry, more than 400 civilians have been killed and roughly 4 000 others injured.
Many international organisations and governments have urged the warring parties to stop fighting and solve the current crisis through dialogue. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has warned that the violence “risks a catastrophic conflagration within Sudan that could engulf the whole region and beyond” and called on UN Security Council members to exert maximum leverage.
Countries are racing to evacuate their civilians from the battle-scarred African country. On Sunday, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said authorities evacuated 436 Egyptian nationals from Sudan as fierce fighting continues in the neighbouring country.
Early on Monday, Uganda evacuated more than 200 nationals from Sudan, Ugandan Ambassador to Sudan Rashid Yahya Ssemuddu told Xinhua. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry announced in a statement on Monday that more than 200 Palestinians in Sudan were evacuated from Khartoum.
Most Chinese nationals have been safely evacuated in groups from Sudan to border ports of neighbouring countries, China’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
Spokesperson Mao Ning told a press briefing that it had not received any casualty reports of Chinese citizens in Sudan so far.
The Chinese consulate-general in Jeddah issued a statement early on Wednesday advising citizens who planned to evacuate to Saudi Arabia to enter through the Jeddah Islamic Port, where the consulate had sent a working group to assist evacuees.
The statement said Chinese citizens have been evacuating on their own to Saudi Arabia, but did not specify how many have arrived there.
The EU has completed the evacuation of 1 200 European citizens on 31 flights from Sudan, the bloc’s foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said on Monday, adding that an estimated 400 citizens remain in the country.
“With the concerted efforts of all parties, most of the Chinese nationals in Sudan have been safely evacuated in batches and in an orderly manner to the ports on Sudan’s border or Sudan’s neighbouring countries,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a daily press briefing on Tuesday.
“The security situation in Sudan remains complex and challenging,” the spokesperson said.
Xinhua