Western and other nations have intensified increasingly desperate efforts to evacuate diplomats and their dependents from Khartoum, as battles raged in the centre of the Sudanese capital and in its twin city of Omdurman.
With a series of ceasefires failing to hold, the death toll has now passed 420, including 264 civilians, and more than 3,700 have been wounded, according to local and international NGOs. However, most analysts believe the true total of fatalities and injuries in more than nine days of fighting is much higher.
On Sunday the UK successfully evacuated its diplomatic staff and dependents from Khartoum via a complex operation in what officials called “very challenging circumstances”, which involved more than 1,200 military personnel.
The UK has undertaken a military operation to evacuate British embassy staff from Khartoum, due to escalating violence and threats against foreign diplomats and embassy properties,” a government spokesperson said.
“We thank the armed forces for their bravery in conducting this complex operation under extremely challenging circumstances … The safety of all British nationals in Sudan continues to be our utmost priority.”
The US evacuated diplomats, embassy workers and families from Khartoum on Saturday night, sending Chinook helicopters carrying special forces on Saturday night to evacuate about 70 Americans from a landing zone at the embassy to an undisclosed location in Ethiopia, according to US officials.
On the battered streets of Khartoum there was anger.
“They evacuated their people … the Americans do not care about Sudan … The safety of their people is a priority for them, we should not concentrate on that, we should think of ways to stop the war,” Madji Ebaid, a 61-year-old businessman, said.
Alaa Mustafa, a 33-year-old hospital lab assistant in Omdurman, said the evacuation by western countries showed that at least politicians in London or Washington “cared about their citizens”.
“Our leader might stop fighting but imagine only [to allow] the westerners to leave the country. What about us who are still here? There are so many humanitarian cases, and people who need emergency care. Their bodies are thrown on the streets .