US, other nations scramble to evac citizens as Sudan battles rip capital

KHARTOUM, Sudan—US troops swooped in on helicopters to evacuate embassy staff from Sudan’s battle-torn capital, President Joe Biden said Sunday, as other nations sought to help their citizens flee deadly fighting between rival generals.

France and Turkey on Sunday also launched evacuation operations from the chaos-torn northeast African nation, where ongoing fighting has entered its second week.

Ferocious battles between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary group -- which has seen fighting with tanks in densely populated Khartoum and air strikes launched by fighter jets—have killed more than 400 people and left thousands wounded.

Biden, who said the US military “conducted an operation” to extract US government personnel, condemned the violence, saying “it’s unconscionable and it must stop”.

Just over 100 US special operations troops took part in the rescue to extract fewer than 100 people, which saw three Chinook helicopters fly from Djibouti, staying on the ground in Khartoum for less than an hour.

France’s foreign ministry said Sunday a “rapid evacuation operation” had begun, and that European citizens and those from “allied partner countries” would also be assisted, without giving further details.

Fighting continued Sunday with the crackle of automatic gunfire echoing across Khartoum and Sudanese mili-

Pope Francis urges dialogue over ‘grave’ Sudan situation

VATICAN CITY, Holy See—Pope Francis on Sunday called for dialogue between warring military factions in Sudan as a bloody outbreak of fighting entered a second week.

“Unfortunately the situation remains grave in Sudan. That is why I am renewing my call for the violence to stop as quickly as possible and for dialogue to resume,” the pontiff said during traditional Sunday prayers in Saint Peter’s Square in Rome.

“I invite everyone to pray for our Sudanese brothers and sisters,” he added. France, Italy, Turkey, and the United States are all evacuating citizens from Sudan.

Ferocious battles between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary group —which has seen fighting with tanks in densely populated Khartoum and air strikes launched by fighter jets -- have killed more than 400 people and left thousands wounded.

The fighting between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s forces and the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo began on April 15 over a dispute on the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army.

The move was a key condition of a deal aimed at restoring Sudan’s democratic transition after the military toppled former leader Omar al-Bashir in April 2019 following mass citizen protests.

The two men had joined forces to oust a civilian government installed after Bashir’s downfall, before turning on each other. AFP people flee the battle-torn Sudanese capital. AFP tary aircraft roaring overhead, witnesses said.

Turkey began rescue operations at dawn via road from the southern city of Wad Medani, but plans were postponed from one site in Khartoum after “explosions” near a mosque designated as the assembly area, the embassy said on Twitter.

Scramble to evacuate

Frightened residents, many low on water, food and other essentials, have huddled inside their homes in the capital where buildings have been gutted, lamp- posts are lying on the ground, and smoke has been rising from shops set on fire.

Heavy fighting broke out on April 15 between forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy turned rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The former allies seized power in a 2021 coup but later fell out in a bitter power struggle.

Daglo’s RSF emerged from the Janjaweed fighters unleashed in Darfur by former strongman leader Omar al-