ISTANBUL (AA) - Türkiye carried out the evacuation of 124 more nationals from violence-hit Sudan, the Turkish National Defense Ministry said early Monday.
A C-130 aircraft of the Turkish Air Force brought Turkish nationals to the capital Ankara safely, the ministry said in a post on Twitter along with a video clip showing people embarking on the plane.
On Friday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said a total of 1,834 people, 249 of whom are citizens of 19 different countries, were evacuated from conflict-torn Sudan.
At least 528 people have been killed and more than 4,500 injured in fighting between two rival generals in Sudan – army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander Mohammed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo – since April 15, according to Sudan's Health Ministry.
A disagreement had been fomenting in recent months between the army and the paramilitary force regarding the RSF’s integration into the armed forces, a key condition of Sudan's transition agreement with political groups.
Sudan has been without a functioning government since October 2021, when the military dismissed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s transitional government and declared a state of emergency in a move decried by political forces as a “coup.”
Sudan’s transitional period, which started in August 2019 after the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir, was scheduled to end with elections in early 2024.