On Monday night, the first batch of Kenyan evacuees from Sudan arrived in Nairobi on a Kenya Air Force plane. The evacuees were received by the Defense Secretary, Aden Duale.
The first successful evacuation flight brought 39 evacuees, with 19 Kenyans, 19 Somalians, and one individual from Saudi Arabia. The evacuations come as fighting continues in Sudan, with a stream of military aircraft from Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia flying into Khartoum to extract foreign nationals.
Reports of “a lot of shooting and a lot of bombing going for almost 24 hours” were given by an evacuee who disembarked the aircraft.
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Several other countries have also initiated evacuation programs. Saudi Arabia led the first successful evacuation of almost 200 people from 14 different countries on Saturday. 356 people have been evacuated to Saudi Arabia so far, including 101 Saudis and 255 foreigners from over 20 different countries. Egypt has evacuated 177 soldiers and over 400 citizens by land. More than 10,000 Egyptians are believed to be living in Sudan.
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Over 200 Moroccans have been taken to Port Sudan in convoys organized by their embassy and are expected to be flown home from there. Algeria and Tunisia have also announced rescue operations. Jordan has begun the evacuation of around 300 citizens with Saudi and UAE cooperation, while 52 Lebanese and 105 Libyans left on a Saudi naval vessel.
As tensions remain high in Sudan, more evacuations are expected to take place in the coming days.
