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Sudan’s army chief said on Saturday that citizens of the United States and several other countries would be evacuated “in the coming hours” as fighting between two warring military factions entered a second week.
The army chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who is the country’s de facto leader, said in a statement that his forces would also facilitate the evacuation of diplomats and citizens from Britain, China and France, although it remained unclear how and when. departure will be arranged. The claim could not be immediately confirmed. A spokeswoman for the French Foreign Ministry said she could not confirm the evacuation of diplomats or French nationals.
The international airport in Khartoum, the capital, has been closed amid the fighting, and roads across the country remain dangerous.
Diplomats from Saudi Arabia were evacuated earlier by land to Port Sudan, in the east of the country, and flew to Saudi Arabia, according to General al-Burhan, with the same operation expected to take place for Jordanian citizens.
The evacuation announcement follows intense pressure from foreign governments to secure the return of foreign nationals as the near-constant fighting since April 15 has devastated civilians, humanitarian workers and diplomats. An American convoy was attacked last week, and the EU ambassador to Sudan was attacked in his home.
At least 256 civilians have been killed in the clashes, and at least 1,454 have been injured since fighting broke out between forces led by two generals vying for control of the country, according to the country’s doctors’ union. But much more is unaccounted for, according to Mohamed Eisa, secretary general of the Sudanese American Physicians Association, a United States-based non-profit organization.
“Someone died at home,” said Dr. Isa. “Families can’t bury their dead because of constant fighting.”
As clashes between the army and the rival Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group continue into their eighth day, Sudan’s health care system is on the verge of collapse, and there are few signs that the two warring factions will stop. Of the country’s 78 major hospitals, only 55 are operational, according to the doctors’ association.
“The health care system is going to collapse,” said Dr. Eisa in a telephone interview from Khartoum. “We must secure safe passage for the wounded.”
The ongoing eight-day war has plunged Sudan into chaos. Countless residents of Khartoum have fled the city, where corpses litter the streets, seeking refuge in the suburbs and the safer country. More than 15,000 people from the western region of Darfur have crossed into neighboring Chad, and humanitarian organizations have reported being unable to work amid the ongoing fighting.
It’s constant contributed reports from Paris.
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