Foreign countries have struggled in vain to repatriate their citizens (Photo: DPA) / Photo: AFP
A boat carrying Saudi citizens and other nationals rescued from battle-scarred Sudan arrived in Jeddah, Saudi state television said, in the first announced evacuation of civilians since fighting began.
"The first evacuation vessel from Sudan has arrived, carrying 50 (Saudi) citizens and a number of nationals from friendly countries," the state-run Al-Ekhbariya television said on Saturday.

The boat docked at the Red Sea port of Jeddah where four other ships carrying 108 people from 11 different countries was expected to arrive later from Sudan, the broadcaster said.

The Sudanese army has said it was coordinating efforts to evacuate diplomats from the United States, Britain, China and France out of the country on military airplanes, as fighting persisted in the capital, including at its main airport.

The country has been roiled by bloody fighting for the past week that has killed over 400 people so far, according to the World Health Organization.

Foreign countries have struggled in vain to repatriate their citizens, a task deemed far too risky as clashes between the Sudanese army and a rival powerful paramilitary group have raged in and around Khartoum, including in residential areas.

The main international airport near the center of the capital has been the target of heavy shelling as the paramilitary group, known as the Rapid Support Forces, has tried to take control of the complex, complicating evacuation plans.

With Sudan's airspace closed, foreign countries have ordered their citizens to simply shelter in place until they can figure out evacuation plans.

Earlier this week, the Pentagon said it was moving additional troops and equipment to a Naval base in the tiny Gulf of Aden nation of Djibouti to prepare for the possible evacuation of US Embassy personnel from Sudan.

On Friday, the US said it had no plans for a government-coordinated evacuation of an estimated 16,000 American citizens trapped in Sudan, and continued to urge Americans in Sudan to shelter in place.

TRT Afrika and agencies