WASHINGTON – The United States and Britain said they have evacuated their embassy staff from Sudan while France said it was evacuating diplomats on Sunday, as fighting between rival forces entered its second week.

US President Joe Biden said Washington was temporarily suspending operations at its embassy in the capital Khartoum but remained committed to the Sudanese people. He reiterated calls for a ceasefire that have so far gone largely unheeded.

“The belligerent parties must implement an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, allow unhindered humanitarian access, and respect the will of the people of Sudan,” Mr Biden said in a statement.

A US official familiar with the matter said the military airlifted about 70 embassy employees using helicopters and V-22 Ospreys – a plane that can take off and land vertically – on Saturday. The navy’s Seal Team 6 special force was involved, the official added.

On its part, the French Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that it had kicked off the “rapid evacuation operation” and that European citizens and those from “allied partner countries” would also be assisted, without giving further details.

A diplomatic source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Agence France-Presse the Sudan armed forces and their rivals, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group, had “given guarantees of security” for the operation. The same source said there were about 250 French citizens living in Sudan.

Britain on Sunday said its troops undertook a successful rescue operation alongside the US, France and other unnamed allies to evacuate diplomatic staff and their family members.

Live TV feeds showed thick smoke still hanging over the capital Khartoum and its sister cities of Bahri and Ombdurman, as gunfire continued to ring out in some areas, a Reuters reporter said.

The evacuations came after more than a week of brutal fighting in the capital and other parts of the country between the army and the RSF, whose leaders are vying for supremacy in Sudan.

With the airport in the capital badly damaged by shelling and the country’s airspace closed, the evacuation was a daring move. The Pentagon had positioned more troops in recent days in the nearby nation of Djibouti, where the US military has a base, to prepare for a rescue.

The US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said using an airlift was deemed necessary because the alternative – a convoy through the city to its airport, which had been the scene of heavy fighting – was seen as too dangerous.

Mr Biden thanked Djibouti, Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia, saying they were critical to the success of the operation.

“I am proud of the extraordinary commitment of our embassy staff who performed their duties with courage and professionalism and embodied America’s friendship and connection with the people of Sudan,” he added.

“I am grateful for the unmatched skill of our service members who successfully brought them to safety.”

The events capped a day of confusion after Sudan’s military chief vowed to help relocate nationals of several countries including the US. But the American embassy said at the time that it was too dangerous to evacuate.

Under Secretary of State for Management John Bass said some Americans and other nationals had successfully travelled by land from Khartoum to Port Sudan on the Red Sea, which he said appeared to be a challenging journey, given the lack of fuel, food and predictably available water.

Saudi Arabia has already evacuated Gulf citizens from Port Sudan, 650km from Khartoum. Jordan will do the same for its nationals. 

Egypt, which has more than 10,000 citizens in Sudan, urged its nationals outside Khartoum to head to its consulate in Port Sudan, and to a consular office in Wadi Halfa on the border with Egypt, in preparation for their evacuation. It encouraged those in Khartoum to shelter in place and wait for the situation to improve.

The fighting between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s forces and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo’s RSF began on April 15 over a dispute on the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army.

The move was a key condition for a deal aimed at restoring Sudan’s democratic transition after the military toppled former leader Omar al-Bashir in April 2019 following mass citizen protests.

The two men had joined forces to oust a civilian government installed after Bashir’s downfall, before turning on each other.

At least 400 people have been killed in the clashes and 3,500 injured, according to the United Nations. They include at least 256 civilians who died and 1,454 who were wounded, according to a doctors’ union. Beyond Khartoum, reports of the worst violence have come from Darfur. It is a western region bordering Chad that suffered a conflict that escalated in 2003, leaving 300,000 people dead and 2.7 million displaced. NYTIMES, REUTERS