As the bloody fighting in Sudan entered its second week, the Sudanese army has announced that it was coordinating efforts to evacuate foreign citizens and diplomats from the country on military aircraft.
After meeting with the leaders of several countries that had requested assistance, Army Chief Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan said he would facilitate the evacuation of American, British, Chinese, and French citizens and diplomats from Sudan.
US military evacuated American diplomats and their families from Khartoum, President Joe Biden has said.
Not less than 100 people were reportedly evacuated early on Sunday, when three Chinook helicopters landed near the US embassy to collect them.
Main airports have turned into battlegrounds, and getting out of Khartoum has proven extremely dangerous for many citizens and foreigners who are trapped by the armed conflict in Sudan.
On Saturday, Saudi Arabia announced the successful repatriation of some of its citizens, posting video of Saudi nationals and other foreigners being greeted with chocolate and flowers as they stepped off an apparent evacuation ship in the Saudi port of Jeddah.
The United States on its part is considering options of evacuating its embassy in Khartoum but said on Friday it had no plans for a government-coordinated evacuation of the estimated 16,000 American citizens trapped in the African country.
Fighting continued on Saturday in Sudan breaching what was meant to be a three day ceasefire from Friday to allow citizens to reach safety and visit family during the holiday of Eid al-Fitr.
The World Health Organization reported on Friday that 413 people had been killed and 3,551 injured since fighting broke out. The death toll includes at least five aid workers of the United Nations.