China begins evacuation of citizens from Sudan

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – China on Monday began evacuating its nationals from the conflict-hit Sudan.

The country’s Foreign Ministry confirmed Beijing has launched the evacuation operation from the African nation, Chinese state broadcaster CGTN reported.

Many countries have evacuated their diplomatic staff and nationals from Sudan as heavy fighting between the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has entered a second week despite a temporary truce for the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday.

At least 413 people have been killed and 3,551 others injured since April 15, when a conflict broke out in the capital Khartoum and other cities between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF, which the military had declared a rebel group.

In the last few months, a disagreement between the army and RSF over military security reform has turned into a hot conflict. The reform envisages the full participation of the RSF in the army, one of the main issues in the negotiation process carried out by international and regional parties for the transition to civilian and democratic rule.