Sudan says foreign diplomats are being evacuated from Khartoum

Sudan’s military said on Saturday that the evacuation of foreign diplomats and citizens from the country has begun after a week of battles that have hindered rescue efforts.

The military said in a statement that Saudi diplomats had been evacuated by plane from Port Sudan. It added that the UK, US, France and China were expected to send military aircraft to Khartoum to evacuate their diplomats in “the coming hours”.

A French official declined to confirm the Sudanese claim that evacuations of French diplomats would soon begin.

British officials cautioned against an evacuation “in the coming hours” but did not deny the likelihood that diplomats would be transported over the weekend.

The US Embassy in Khartoum said in a Tweet that the uncertain security situation in Khartoum and closure of the airport meant it was not safe to undertake a government co-ordinated evacuation of private US citizens.

Rishi Sunak, the UK prime minister, chaired an emergency COBR meeting on Saturday morning with key ministers including Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, reflecting concerns in London about the situation in Sudan.

The fierce fighting between the Sudanese armed forces and a powerful paramilitary group that erupted last weekend has paralysed Khartoum airport, where a number of civilian aircraft have been destroyed. Foreign governments have raced against time to evacuate their citizens.

Saudi Arabian television showed a naval vessel docking in Jeddah carrying Saudis and other nationalities, and said that four more ships were expected with 108 evacuees from 11 countries.

The fighting is a power struggle between the army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemeti, Sudan’s vice-president and commander of the Rapid Support Forces.

More than 400 people have been killed, including at least four UN aid workers, and more than 3,500 injured. The US state department confirmed an American citizen had been killed in the fighting but did not to provide further details.

Three employees with the World Food Programme and one from the International Organization for Migration have been also died, a US diplomatic convoy has been attacked and the Norwegian residence was hit by a missile. Other diplomatic delegations were also attacked.