MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd April, 2023) Saudi Arabia has started arranging the evacuation of its citizens and nationals of "brotherly and friendly" countries from Sudan as armed clashes in the country enter a second week, the kingdom's foreign ministry said on Saturday.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announces the start of the arrangement for the evacuation of Saudi citizens and several nationals of brotherly and friendly countries from the Republic of Sudan to the Kingdom," the statement read.
Meanwhile, the Sky news Arabia broadcaster reported, citing sources, that several foreign ambassadors arrived in the city of Port Sudan on the Red Sea after being evacuated from Sudan's capital of Khartoum. The report did not specify the countries whose ambassadors were evacuated.
The Sudanese armed forces later specified that Saudi Arabia's diplomatic mission had been evacuated from Khartoum to Port Sudan and flown out from the port city to the kingdom.� Jordan's diplomatic corps will do the same, the armed forces added.
The Sudanese Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group announced on Twitter on Friday its readiness to partially open airports in order to allow for the evacuation of foreign citizens from Sudan.
Last Saturday, violent clashes between the Sudanese regular armed forces and the RSF broke out, with the epicenter located in Khartoum. Government forces accused the RSF of mutiny and launched airstrikes against their bases. Abdel Fattah Burhan, the head of the Sudanese military, has issued a decree disbanding the RSF. The sides agreed to a three-day truce starting Friday in connection with the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr.
