Fighting in Sudan enters second week, evacuation of foreign nationals begin

Army Chief Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan agreed to provide necessary assistance to secure the evacuation of foreign nationals.

Smoke fills the sky in Khartoum, Sudan, near Doha International Hospital on Friday, April 21, 2023. (Photo | AP) 

KHARTOUM: Evacuations of foreign nationals in battle-scarred Sudan got underway Saturday as fighting between the forces of rival generals in the capital Khartoum entered a second week following a brief lull.

A temporary truce saw fighting momentarily die down in Sudan on the first day of Eid al-Fitr that marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, but by Saturday morning clashes had resumed in Khartoum.

Saudi Arabia evacuated its citizens and other nationals in the first major rescue operation for civilians since fighting broke out last week, according to Saudi state television.

"The first evacuation vessel from Sudan has arrived (in Jeddah), carrying 50 citizens and a number of nationals from friendly countries," the official Al-Ekhbariyah television said.

Another 108 people from 11 countries were expected to arrive later in the day aboard four other ships, it added.

Earlier on Saturday, Sudan's army said its chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had received calls from leaders of multiple countries to "facilitate and guarantee safety for evacuating citizens and diplomatic missions".

It noted that the evacuations are expected to begin "in the coming hours", adding that the US, Britain, France and China are planning to airlift their nationals out of Khartoum using military jets.

Clashes erupted on April 15 between forces loyal to Burhan and those of his deputy-turned-rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The former allies seized power in a 2021 coup but later fell out in a bitter power struggle.

The conflict -- much of which has taken place in Khartoum -- has left hundreds dead and thousands wounded.

 Members of the armed forces share chocolates and flowers with Saudi citizens and other nationals upon their arrival in Jeddah, following their rescue from Sudan, April 22, 2023. (Photo | AFP)

'Stench of blood'

On Saturday morning, heavy gunfire, loud explosions and fighter jets roared in many parts of the capital, according to witnesses. The army announced Friday that it had agreed to a three-day ceasefire, which UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had called for a day earlier.

Daglo said in a statement he had "discussed the current crisis" with Guterres, and was "focused on the humanitarian truce, safe passages, and protecting humanitarian workers."

Two 24-hour ceasefires announced earlier in the week were also ignored.

The fighting has seen the RSF -- a force tens of thousands strong, formed from members of the Janjaweed militia that led years of violence in the western Darfur region -- take on the regular army, with neither side seemingly having seized the advantage.

In Khartoum, a city of five million people, the conflict upended the lives of civilians, who have sheltered in terror inside their homes without electricity in the baking heat for days. Many civilians have ventured out only to get urgent food supplies or to flee the city.

Eid is meant to be spent "with sweets and pastries, with happy children, and people greeting relatives", resident Sami al-Nour told AFP. Instead, there has been "gunfire and the stench of blood all around us".

While Khartoum has seen some of the fiercest battles, violence also exploded across the country.

Late Friday, the army accused the RSF of attacks in the capital's twin city of Omdurman where they released "a large number of inmates" from a prison, accusations the group denies.

Battles have also raged in Darfur, where Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in the city of El Fasher said their medics had been "overwhelmed" by the number of patients with gunshot wounds, many of them children.

EXPLAINER | What sparked the violent struggle to control Sudan's future?

Embassies prepare for evacuation

More plans are being made to evacuate foreign nationals, with the United States, South Korea and Japan deploying forces to nearby countries and the European Union weighing a similar move. On Friday, the US said the situation was still too risky for an evacuation of embassy personnel.

Later, the RSF said it was ready to "partially" open "all airports" in Sudan to evacuate foreign citizens. Though it is not possible to verify which airports the RSF controls, Burhan on Saturday told Al-Arabiya TV that the army was in control of "all airports, except for Khartoum airport" and one in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said 413 people had been killed and 3,551 wounded in the fighting across Sudan, but the actual death toll is thought to be higher.

More than two-thirds of hospitals in Khartoum and neighbouring states are now "out of service", and at least four hospitals in North Kordofan state were shelled, the doctors' union said. The World Food Programme said the violence could plunge millions more into hunger in a country where one-third of the population needs aid.

Burhan and Daglo's dispute centred on the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army, a key condition for a deal aimed at restoring Sudan's democratic transition. The military toppled autocratic president Omar al-Bashir in April 2019 following massive protests.

In October 2021, Burhan and Daglo joined forces to oust a civilian government installed after Bashir's downfall. Daglo now says the coup was a "mistake", while Burhan believes it was "necessary" to include more groups into politics.