Saudi-flagged ship evacuates over 1,900 people from conflict-ridden Sudan to Jeddah

Saudi-flagged ship Amana evacuated 1,982 people from Sudan, marking the largest evacuation operation from the conflict-ridden country to the Kingdom, Al Arabiya reported on Saturday.

The ship docked at the King Faisal Naval Base in Jeddah.

Earlier on Saturday, a Chinese military ship with 272 Chinese nationals and 223 Pakistanis also arrived in Jeddah from Sudan, Al Arabiya reported.

European nations, China and others from around the world raced to extract thousands of their citizens from Khartoum after clashes erupted between forces loyal to Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and those of his deputy-turned-rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

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The army and RSF jointly staged a coup in 2021 but fell out during negotiations to integrate the two groups and form a civilian government four years after Omar al-Bashir was toppled.

Fighting continued on Saturday despite the announcement of a 72-hour ceasefire extension, when strikes by air, tanks and artillery rocked Khartoum and the adjacent cities of Bahri and Ombdurman.

At least 512 people have been killed and close to 4,200 wounded, according to the United Nations, which believes the real toll is much higher.

More than 75,000 people were internally displaced within Sudan just in the first week of the fighting, according to the UN. Only 16 percent of hospitals were operating as normal in the capital.

With Reuters
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