The violence in Sudan has escalated, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes and leading to the evacuation of diplomats and foreign nationals from the country. The UK and US militaries airlifted their diplomats to safety over the weekend, with the US using MH-47 Chinook helicopters to ferry consular staff. Although thousands of American and British citizens, mostly dual nationals, are believed to remain in the country. Other nations, including Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, Greece, Ireland, and Jordan, have also organised rescue efforts. Ghana is working to evacuate its citizens through Ethiopia.
Clashes have continued for the last 10 days in the North African nation, with Khartoum residents facing a sharp increase in essential item prices, attacks that are closing health facilities, and shortages of water, medicine, food, and fuel. An internet blackout remains in place, with connectivity at only 2% of normal levels, according to global internet monitor NetBlocks.
The United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a report on Sunday that civilians were being displaced by violence in Khartoum and in six of Sudan’s 18 states. “Cross-border movements from Sudan to Chad, Egypt and South Sudan have been observed,” it added.
The conflict erupted in Sudan on 15 April, following a long-simmering struggle between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The fighting has disrupted plans for a power-sharing government that was supposed to lead the nation of about 45 million to democratic elections after a 2021 coup. Sudan has drawn interest from foreign powers including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt, which have each backed the rival generals leading the fight – military boss Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Rapid Support Forces head Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. Western powers have dangled billions of dollars in frozen aid in a push for a return of civilian rule in a country coveted by Russia and China for its strategic Red Sea coastline and mineral resources.
The violence has left at least 427 people dead and more than 3,700 injured, according to the UN. It is currently unclear which side controls strategic locations in Khartoum and its neighbouring sister city of Omdurman, according to an internal UN document. The Rapid Support Forces and the army have traded accusations that the other side is impeding foreign evacuations and attacking embassy staff.
Neighbouring 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. He added that typically all the countries evacuating their people are doing it from Port Sudan, but that its oil exports via the port were unaffected.