The massive exodus of foreigners continued this Monday in Sudanshaken by fierce fighting between army and a paramilitary group that have left hundreds dead, with no solution to the conflict in sight.
The explosions and shots have not stopped resounding for ten days in the Sudanese capital, Khartoumand other areas of the African country, but the foreign capitals managed to negotiate with the two belligerents the evacuation of their diplomatic staff and citizens.
We had to “take advantage of a small window of opportunity”, indicated a spokesman for the British government.
“With the intense fighting in Khartoum and the closure of the main airport” since April 15, the day the fighting broke out, a major evacuation was “impossible”, he added.
Total more than 1,000 citizens were evacuated of the European Union (EU), according to the bloc’s head of diplomacy, Josep Borrell.
Spain announced the departure of 100 peopleSpanish but also latin american.
USA evacuated its diplomatic staff by helicopter, less than 100 people.
Chinaa major trading partner of Sudan, also evacuated a first contingent of Chinese from the African country.
Several arabic capitals they also evacuated hundreds of their nationals.
A Lebanese evacuated on a bus told the AFP that he could leave just with “a t-shirt and pajamas”. “It’s all I have left after 17 years” in Sudan, she laments.
In Khartoum, “we were in a state of siege“, it states. The more than 5 million citizens of the capital have not had no water or electricity. And the food begins to lack.
“We were afraid of getting sick or injured in the fighting,” continues the man, standing among a group of evacuated families. Now “everything is destroyed”.
The violence in this northeastern country Africaof some 45 million inhabitants, broke out on April 15 among the army of General Abdul Fatah al Burhande facto ruler of Sudan since the 2021 coup, and his rival, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagloparamilitary leader Rapid Support Forces (FAR).
More of 420 people died and 3,700 were injured so far, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Most of the evacuated foreigners are diplomatic personnel. Many nationals are still waiting for a place in the convoys that continually leave for Port Sudan, on the shores of the Red Sea, or to the air bases on the outskirts of Khartoum.
Most of the evacuated diplomatic personnel were transferred to djiboutia small country in the Horn of Africa, where there are numerous foreign military bases.
“I fear for his future”
While the Efforts to evacuate foreigners continue, the concern grows over fate of Sudanese caught between the fighting.
I fear for your future”, the Norwegian ambassador wrote on Twitter Endre Stiansen.
The five million inhabitants of Khartoum They only have one idea in mind: leave townwhich plunges into chaos.
The two sides accuse each other of having attacked prisons to free hundreds of prisoners, loot houses and factories.
They have also registered clashes around benches, which were emptied.
In a country where the inflation it’s already from three digits In normal times, the price of rice Or the gasoline it’s through the roof.
Which is a problem since gasoline is key to being able to escape from the fighting: a lot of fuel is needed to reach the neighbor Egypt — 1,000 km north — where Thousands of Sudanese hope to find refuge. or to get to port sudan850 km to the east, where they hope to get on a ship.
“As foreigners, who are able to, flee, the impact of violence on an already critical humanitarian situation in Sudan is compounded,” the statement warned. UN.
Caught in the crossfire, their agencies and many others humanitarian organizations have suspended their activities in the country.
Five humanitarian workersincluding four from the UN, died and, according to the doctors’ union, almost three quarters of hospitals are out of service.
hunger threatens
Meanwhile, the fierce fighting between the forces of the two generals in power they do not give truce.
Shooting intensifies in and around the capital. Combat planes fly over the area while the paramilitary armored vehicles are advancing.
The dispute between Burhan and Daglo arose from plans to integrate the FAR into the regular army, a key requirement of the deal to restore democracy to Sudan after the military coup that ousted the autocratic ruler Omar al-Bashir in April 2019.
He World Food Program warned that millions more could go hungry due to violence, in Africa’s third-largest country, where in normal times a third of the population needs humanitarian aid.
(With information from AFP)
Keep reading:
Embassies evacuate Sudan but thousands of foreigners remain behind
Source-www.infobae.com