KHARTOUM: Battles raging in Sudan have sparked multiple evacuation operations to rescue foreign citizens and embassy staff by road, air and sea.
The main airport in the capital Khartoum has been the site of heavy fighting and is under the control of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces that is battling the army.
Many evacuations are taking place from Port Sudan on the Red Sea, an 850-kilometre (530-mile) drive from Khartoum.
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Here is an overview of what various nations have done in efforts to take stranded citizens to safety.
Saudi Arabia led the first reported successful evacuations on Saturday, with naval operations picking up more than 150 people.
Riyadh announced the “safe arrival” of 91 Saudi citizens and around 66 nationals from 12 other countries — Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Tunisia, Pakistan, India, Bulgaria, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Canada and Burkina Faso.
On Sunday, the US military sent three Chinook helicopters to evacuate American embassy staff from Khartoum.
More than 100 US forces took part in the rescue to extract fewer than 100 people, which saw the choppers flying from Djibouti to Khartoum, where they stayed on the ground for less than an hour.
US officials have warned that any wider effort to evacuate American citizens is unlikely in the coming days.
Canada has also pulled its embassy team out, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.
The British army has evacuated UK embassy staff and their families in a “complex and rapid” operation, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said. British citizens still trapped in Sudan have been calling on social media for help.
The Norwegian ambassador said he and other Norwegian diplomats had also been evacuated, while Switzerland said 12 citizens had left with the help of other countries.
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Monday that 1,000 EU citizens had been evacuated.
France has airlifted 400 people of multiple nationalities to Djibouti.
Among them were 25 Swedish citizens.
The Netherlands’ Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said a “handful” of Dutch people had been evacuated on a French aircraft, with another group leaving Khartoum by road in a UN convoy.
Italy evacuated around 200 people in a military operation on Sunday, rescuing all Italian citizens who “had asked to leave” and other nationalities, including representatives of the Vatican.
Greece said a first group of evacuees left with French help on Sunday, and another group in the Italian operation.
Berlin said it had airlifted 300 people — including Germans and other nationalities — following an aborted attempt on Wednesday.
A Spanish military plane with 100 passengers — 30 Spanish and 70 other nationalities — left Sunday for Djibouti, Madrid said.
The Irish government has deployed 12 defence personnel to Djibouti to help evacuate 150 citizens.
Ankara began operations on Sunday, taking some of its estimated 600 nationals by road from Khartoum and the southern city of Wad Madani.
But plans were postponed from one site in Khartoum after “explosions” near a mosque designated as the assembly area, the embassy said.
Egypt’s military last week evacuated 177 of its soldiers from Sudan. On Sunday the foreign ministry said 436 citizens had left by land. Over 10,000 Egyptians are thought to live in Sudan.
Jordan on Saturday said it had begun the evacuation of some 300 citizens with Saudi and UAE support, while 52 Lebanese and 105 Libyans had also left on a Saudi naval vessel.
Iraq said 14 citizens had arrived in Port Sudan.
Tunisia sent an airplane on Monday morning, with some citizens having already left aboard Saudi ships.
Chad is sending airplanes to collect 438 citizens who are leaving Khartoum by bus for Port Sudan, the government said.
Some of the 800,000 South Sudanese refugees in country — who fled war in their home country — are also returning back on their own, according to the UN refugee agency.
China said Monday it had “safely evacuated” a first group of citizens.
Beijing’s foreign ministry said it will “try every means to protect the lives, properties and safety of 1,500 plus Chinese compatriots in Sudan”.
Indonesia had moved 538 nationals from Khartoum to Port Sudan, where they are waiting for a boat to Jeddah, with another group of 289 due to travel in a second phase.
The Philippines said Monday it would begin evacuating nearly 700 Filipinos “within the next 24 hours” on buses to Egypt.
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