MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish military aircraft are on standby and ready to evacuate some 60 Spanish nationals and about 20 civilians from other countries from Sudan’s capital Khartoum amid armed conflict there, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said on Friday.
The unabated fighting that broke out six days ago in Sudan has killed at least 413 people and injured 3,551, according to the World Health Organisation. In the absence of a ceasefire, foreign nations – including the United States – have been unable to evacuate their citizens from Sudan.
“Every day, combats are increasing in intensity and that is why it hasn’t been possible to organise an evacuation yet,” Albares told a joint news conference with his German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, in Berlin.
However, military airplanes are ready to proceed with the evacuation and would act promptly at the first opportunity, he added.
Albares said that supplies had been provided to the Spanish embassy and ambassador’s residence in Khartoum and security around the diplomatic buildings had been tightened.
A Spanish citizen on a vessel off the coast of Sudan has been taken to safety, he added.
(Reporting by Inti Landauro and Emma Pinedo; Writing by David Latona; Editing by Andrei Khalip)
