Efforts by many countries to evacuate consular workers and other citizens from Sudan were hampered amid a ninth day of widespread fighting, with the French embassy in Khartoum under attack and an Egyptian diplomat shot.
(Bloomberg) —
Efforts by many countries to evacuate consular workers and other citizens from Sudan were hampered amid a ninth day of widespread fighting, with the French embassy in Khartoum under attack and an Egyptian diplomat shot.
The weekend cease-fire agreed by Sudan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces militia it has battled since April 15 appeared to have crumbled. While the US military managed to airlift about 100 embassy staff out via helicopter, other countries were still awaiting access to the airport in the capital Khartoum.
The French government was among the countries coordinating an evacuation of its diplomats and citizens, it said in a statement. Meanwhile, neighboring South Sudan — which has about 1 million people in Sudan — has received around 7,000 citizens fleeing by road, acting foreign minister Deng Dau Deng said by phone from Juba.
Read more: US Military Evacuates Diplomats From Sudan as Conflict Rages
“The airport in Khartoum is yet not safe and typically all the countries evacuating their people are doing it from Port Sudan,” Deng said, adding that its oil exports via the port were unaffected.
A six-bus convoy of French and German citizens was en route to the port on Sunday morning, said two Western officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity as they are not authorized to speak publicly.
Heavy Clashes
Heavy clashes were reported in northern Khartoum and it remained unclear who controlled strategic locations throughout the capital city, according to an internal UN document published Saturday and seen by Bloomberg.
The RSF and the army have traded accusations that the other side is impeding foreign evacuations and attacking embassy staff.
There are “no movement corridors in Khartoum officially open despite the RSF indicating openness to support evacuations,” according to the document. “Civilians are self-relocating despite the significant risks.”
Meanwhile, looting of humanitarian assets and forced entry into compounds reported since the conflict began are “expected to continue,” the UN said in the document.
“Due to the shortages of water, fuel, food, UN personnel and dependents are likely to try to self-relocate, with significant risks of crossfire, arrests, physical violence,” the document said.
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