Foreign nations are rushing to get their citizens out of Sudan as rival military factions battle in the capital Khartoum where millions of residents are trapped inside their homes, many running low on water and food.
The eruption of fighting on April 15 between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group has triggered a humanitarian crisis, killed at least 420 people and left behind charred tanks, gutted buildings and shops that have been looted and torched.
As people attempted to flee the chaos over the weekend, foreign governments began landing aircraft and organising convoys in Khartoum to pull out their nationals.
The United States said special forces using MH-47 Chinook helicopters swept into Sudan’s battle-stricken capital from a US base in Djibouti, spending just one hour on the ground to bring out fewer than 100 people.
United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Twitter on Sunday that members of his country’s armed forces had completed a “complex and rapid evacuation of British diplomats and their families from Sudan”.
Germany and France announced Sunday that they had begun evacuating their nationals and those from other countries. Other European countries, including Italy, the Netherlands and Greece, also said they were planning rescue efforts.
