Iraq says nearly 300 evacuated from conflict-hit Sudan
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Iraqi foreign ministry on Monday said that nearly 300 of its nationals in Sudan have been evacuated since battles broke out between two rival generals that have left hundreds of people dead.
Intense fighting in Sudan between forces of army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the commander of the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), more commonly known as Hemeti, has killed at least 500 people and wounded almost 5,000 others, according to figures from Sudan’s health ministry. An Iraqi national is among the dead.
Ahmed al-Sahaf, spokesperson for Iraq’s foreign ministry, said on Monday that “288 people from the Iraqi community in Sudan have been evacuated, including 16 Syrian citizens.”
Multiple ceasefires between the army and the RSF have been ignored, with a truce extension agreed on Sunday largely ignored as fighting persisted on Monday.
“We are continuing to document the appeals for the rest of our community in Sudan, and we have so far counted 75 new appeals requesting evacuation,” Sahaf added in the statement.
Iraq has allocated two phone numbers for its citizens residing in Sudan to register their requests for evacuation.
Last week, five Iraqi nationals were evacuated from Sudan as Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein thanked Saudi Arabia for supporting the evacuation process.
The evacuation of foreign diplomats and citizens from Khartoum comes after the Sudanese army and the RSF gave “guarantees of security” to allow the operations to take place, according to AFP citing a diplomatic source.
The RSF mostly comprise of the Janjaweed, a powerful militia group that committed years of brutal violence in Sudan’s eastern Darfur region and have been accused of human rights abuses, murder, and rape of the African tribes in the region.
Intense fighting in Sudan between forces of army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the commander of the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), more commonly known as Hemeti, has killed at least 500 people and wounded almost 5,000 others, according to figures from Sudan’s health ministry. An Iraqi national is among the dead.
Ahmed al-Sahaf, spokesperson for Iraq’s foreign ministry, said on Monday that “288 people from the Iraqi community in Sudan have been evacuated, including 16 Syrian citizens.”
Multiple ceasefires between the army and the RSF have been ignored, with a truce extension agreed on Sunday largely ignored as fighting persisted on Monday.
“We are continuing to document the appeals for the rest of our community in Sudan, and we have so far counted 75 new appeals requesting evacuation,” Sahaf added in the statement.
Iraq has allocated two phone numbers for its citizens residing in Sudan to register their requests for evacuation.
Last week, five Iraqi nationals were evacuated from Sudan as Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein thanked Saudi Arabia for supporting the evacuation process.
The evacuation of foreign diplomats and citizens from Khartoum comes after the Sudanese army and the RSF gave “guarantees of security” to allow the operations to take place, according to AFP citing a diplomatic source.
The RSF mostly comprise of the Janjaweed, a powerful militia group that committed years of brutal violence in Sudan’s eastern Darfur region and have been accused of human rights abuses, murder, and rape of the African tribes in the region.