Numerous foreign citizens and embassy staff have been evacuated by road, air, and sea from Sudan due to the raging battles in the country. The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is controlling the main airport in the capital city of Khartoum, which has been the site of heavy fighting against the army. As a result, some evacuations have been taking place from Port Sudan, an 850-kilometre drive from Khartoum.
Several countries have initiated evacuation operations to rescue their stranded citizens in Sudan. Saudi Arabia led the first successful evacuation operation, rescuing more than 150 people, including foreign diplomats and officials from Port Sudan. The United States also sent three Chinook helicopters to evacuate American embassy staff from Khartoum, while France has already evacuated around 100 people of multiple nationalities with plans for another 100 to leave on Sunday evening. The British army has also conducted a "complex and rapid" evacuation operation to rescue UK embassy staff and their families. Turkey has taken some of its estimated 600 nationals by road from two Khartoum districts and the southern city of Wad Madani, but plans for one site in Khartoum were postponed due to explosions near a designated assembly area.
Efforts to coordinate evacuations have been made by the European Union, with seven EU members having missions in Sudan. The Netherlands evacuated a "handful" of Dutch people on a French aircraft, and another group left Khartoum by road in a UN convoy. Germany began evacuating its citizens, and Sweden mobilized "140 to 150" soldiers to evacuate diplomats and other Swedish nationals. Italy also planned to evacuate about 200 people, including Italians, Swiss, and representatives of the Vatican, in a military operation. The Greek foreign ministry announced that a first group of evacuees had already left Sudan with the assistance of France, and Ireland deployed 12 defence personnel to Djibouti to help evacuate 150 citizens in Sudan.
Other countries, including Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, and Tunisia, have also initiated evacuation operations to rescue their citizens from Sudan. Egypt had already evacuated 436 citizens by land, with the military having evacuated 177 of its soldiers from Sudan. Jordan has begun the evacuation of around 300 Jordanian citizens, while Iraq has already evacuated embassy staff and had 14 citizens arrive in Port Sudan. Lebanon has already evacuated 60 citizens from Khartoum by road, and the Libyan embassy in Khartoum has evacuated 83 Libyans from the capital. The Tunisian embassy has also planned an evacuation operation to extract citizens remaining in the country.
Other countries such as China, India, Japan, South Korea, and Indonesia are also preparing for evacuation operations. South Korea and Japan have already deployed forces to nearby countries, and India has two air force planes "on standby" in Saudi Arabia, with a navy ship having arrived in Port Sudan. The Sudanese army is also coordinating efforts to evacuate diplomats from China, while 43 Indonesian citizens are sheltering inside the embassy compound in Khartoum.
