Iraq evacuates five from conflict-hit Sudan
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Five Iraqi nationals were evacuated from Sudan on Monday amid instability as battle raged between forces loyal to two rival generals, the Iraqi foreign ministry said.
“An Iraqi family of five people was evacuated from Port Sudan,” Iraqi foreign ministry spokesperson Ahmed al-Sahaf said.
Intense fighting in Sudan between forces of army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the commander of the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) more commonly referred to as Hemeti, has killed over 420 people and injured thousands more since the clashes erupted last week.
On Sunday, Sahaf said that an Iraqi civilian was killed as a result of the heavy clashes between government forces and armed rebels, after 14 Iraqis were evacuated to Port Sudan with Baghdad allocating two phone numbers for its citizens in Sudan to register their requests for evacuation. The staff of the Iraqi Embassy in Khartoum were also successfully evacuated.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein on Monday evening thanked Saudi Arabia in a tweet 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.I discussed over a phone call with HHPrince @FaisalbinFarhan,the dangerous & complex situation in #Sudan,& expressed my appreciation to the Gov.of #SaudiArabia for their support in evacuating #Iraqi Citz.from Sudan.Furthermore, we discussed the results of HH’s visit to #Damascus
— Fuad Hussein | فؤاد حسين (@Fuad_Husseein) April 24, 2023
Multiple ceasefires have been agreed between the two sides but have been ignored.
According to the latest tally from the World Health Organization, more than 420 people have been killed and over 3,700 wounded in the fighting across Sudan, but many place the death toll to be higher than reported figures.