ANTAKYA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th April, 2023) Turkish citizens in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum faced a number of obstacles, including the lack of buses, during the evacuation process from the country amid ongoing clashes between the Sudanese armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), an eyewitness told Sputnik on Sunday.
On Saturday, the Turkish embassy in Khartoum said that it would evacuate Turkish citizens from Sudan on Sunday. The embassy indicated three gathering points for those wishing to evacuate and advised them to take comfortable clothes and shoes for a 22-24 hours trip.
"We are now at the gathering point, but there are problems with the lack of buses and safe logistics. We were told to wait at home, we will be additionally informed about new decisions," the eyewitness said.
Later in the day, a source in the Turkish Foreign Ministry told Sputnik that Ankara had launched an operation to evacuate 140 citizens from Sudan.
"The process of evacuating 140 citizens by land from Khartoum to the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa has begun. From there they will fly to Turkey," the source said, adding that citizens who arrived at the other two gathering points "will be evacuated as soon as possible, taking into account security circumstances."
The source also added that the evacuation of employees of the Turkish embassy in Khartoum was not planned.
Several international evacuation campaigns are taking place in Sudan on Sunday as the parties to conflict have committed to a three-day ceasefire.
On April 15, violent clashes between the Sudanese regular armed forces and the RSF broke out, with the epicenter in Khartoum. Government forces accused the RSF of mutiny and launched airstrikes against their bases. Abdel Fattah Burhan, the head of the Sudanese military, 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.
