Thousands of Sudanese and foreign civilians have been evacuated from Sudan on the second day of a ceasefire agreed between the country’s warring military factions.
The latest US-brokered ceasefire in Sudan has allowed several countries to evacuate their nationals.
A boat evacuating more nearly 1,700 people from more than 50 countries arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.
A French-chartered flight arrived in Paris Charles-de-Gaulle airport on Wednesday morning with 245 people aboard. 195 were French citizens largely from the French Embassy in Khartoum, but Dutch, Italians, New Zealanders and Sudanese were among the other nationalities according to the French Foreign Ministry.
All of the French citizens wishing to leave Sudan have been able to do so, according to Franceinfo.
Britain said on Wednesday it had evacuated between 200 to 300 citizens as part of an “extensive operation”.
Germany said it had ended its evacuation operations, with over 700 people flown out of the country.
Shaky ceasefire
Fighting broke out between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on 15 April following a bitter power struggle between the leaders of the two factions.
The latest 72-hour ceasefire began at midnight on Monday and, while fragile, appears to be holding.
Volker Perthes, the UN special envoy to Sudan and who is in the country, said the ceasefire is still being observed in some parts of the country.
But witnesses late Tuesday reported gunfire and explosions in Khartoum and the nearby town of Omdurman.
“The pause was not fully upheld, with attacks on headquarters, attempts to gain ground, air strikes, and explosions in different areas of the capital,” Perthes told the Security Council on Tuesday.
“There is yet no unequivocal sign that either is ready to seriously negotiate, suggesting that both think that securing a military victory over the other is possible.”
Security fears were compounded when the World Health Organization (WHO) warned Tuesday of a “huge biological risk” after fighters occupied a Khartoum laboratory holding samples of cholera, measles, polio and other infectious diseases.
The fighting has killed at least 459 people and wounded more than 4,000, according to UN agencies.
Thousands more have fled to neighbouring South Sudan and Chad.
Al-Bashir
Sudan’s military has confirmed reports that ousted former president Omar al-Bashir is being held at a military-run hospital under police custody.
Bashir was moved from the Kober prison on the recommendation of medical staff before fighting between the army and RSF broke out, the army said in a statement on Wednesday.
Ousted by the military after mass protests in 2019, Bashir had been serving a jail sentence for corruption. The ICC also accuses him of crimes against humanity in Darfur, which he denies.
Source:Radio France Internationale
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