China has deployed its navy to rescue citizens from conflict-hit Sudan, Beijing said yesterday.
“Recently, the security situation in Sudan has continued to deteriorate,” Chinese Ministry of National Defense spokesman Tan Kefei (譚克非) said.
The navy was deployed on Wednesday “to protect the lives and property of Chinese people in Sudan,” he added.
He did not specify the number of vessels involved.
China on Monday said it had safely evacuated an initial group of citizens, estimating about 1,500 of its nationals were in Sudan.
More than 1,100 Chinese nationals — including Hong Kong residents — have been evacuated, Chinese Department of Consular Affairs Director-General Wu Xi (吳璽) told state broadcaster CCTV on Wednesday.
China said it is Sudan’s largest trading partner, with more than 130 companies investing there as of last year.
As of yesterday, about 800 Chinese citizens were expected to have been evacuated from Sudan by sea, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning (毛寧) said on Wednesday.
More than 300 other people have crossed over to countries bordering Sudan by land, she added.
The fighting has killed at least 512 people and wounded more than 4,000, the Sudanese government said.
Some districts of Khartoum have been reduced to ruins.
Other evacuations were taking place from Port Sudan, an 850km drive from Khartoum.
An Indonesian military plane flew 110 Indonesian nationals from Port Sudan to the Saudi city of Jeddah on Wednesday, the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote on Twitter yesterday.
That flight brought the total number of Indonesians evacuated from Sudan to 667 since the outbreak of conflict.
UN agencies reported Sudanese civilians “fleeing areas affected by fighting, including to Chad, Egypt and South Sudan.”
With Khartoum’s international airport disabled from battle, groups of foreigners have been airlifted out from smaller airstrips.
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