I just knew our kababayan would be there. The only question was how many 😨
The Philippine government is preparing to evacuate #Filipinos from #Sudan, a country caught in a deadly power struggle between the military and paramilitary groups. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has requested more information to ensure the safety of around 300 Filipinos in the African country.
By sheer coincidence, one of our Philippine Air Force's #C295M medium tactical transport #aircraft is in #Malta enroute to #Spain to have its scheduled maintenance. Capacity is 70+ passengers plus it has a long flight range with STOL (Short Take Off and Landing) capability.
#PortSudan ( #Sudan's main port) is where the Saudi naval vessels picked up the foreign nationals to bring them to the safety of #Jeddah. If the people trapped in #Khartoum can somehow get to Port Sudan then they're safe. Unfortunately....
....it's a deadly 825 kilometer drive to #PortSudan through a strife torn country by car. Or 671 kilometers by plane - assuming a safe & secure airport even exists in #Khartoum | #Sudan
The #US moved fast and got their embassy people out. But it's still unknown how many of the hundreds of Americans residents reportedly trapped are still in #Khartoum
The 3rd plane is a #KC767 aerial refueling plane. The rescue team from #Japan is coming in fully prepared. They're throwing in 370 personnel from the Ground and Air Self-Defense forces.
"The three planes, including a #C130 and #C2 transport aircraft, will be stationed in #Djibouti, a country in the #HornOfAfrica about 1,200 kilometers southeast of #Khartoum, the capital of #Sudan, while the ministry and #SDF assess the situation.. "
Footnote: The Kawasaki #C2 transport aircraft is designed to carry heavy equipment. A truck crane or even a wheeled tank destroyer. But my guess is that it's probably carrying this 👇 | #Japan#Sudan
Western nations have intensified increasingly desperate efforts to evacuate diplomats and their dependents from #Khartoum after a #US mission to evacuate their embassy staff and families succeeded.
Western nations escalate plans to evacuate #diplomats from #Sudan
Foreign nations and the #UN are rushing to get their citizens out of #Sudan as rival military factions battle in the capital #Khartoum where millions of residents are trapped inside their homes, many running low on water and food.
Many Sudanese, along with Egyptians and other foreigners who could not get on flights, risked the long and dangerous drive to the northern border into #Egypt.
The South Korean nationals departed #Khartoum and traveled by land to #PortSudan, 800 kilometers away from the Sudanese capital. They were then transported by air via a C-130 Hercules transport plane to #Jeddah (#SaudiArabia).
“Following intense negotiation over the past 48 hours, the Sudanese Armed Forces (#SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (#RSF) have agreed to implement a nationwide #ceasefire starting at midnight on 24 April, to last for 72 hours."
"We are looking at three exit points. One would be from #Khartoum, by land, and exit via Aswan into #Egypt. That’s a land trip. The second one would be by land to #PortSudan and then by ship to #Jeddah. The third one would be by air through #Djibouti in cooperation with the US government, because they have a #US base in Djibouti,” said Migrant Workers Secretary Susan Ople
“It was important to us that, unlike in other countries, an evacuation not only applies to our embassy staff, but to all local Germans and our partners,” Baerbock added, in an undiplomatic sideswipe at the policy pursued so far by the #US and, until Tuesday morning, the UK.
Dr Nima Saeed Abid, the World Health Organization’s representative in Sudan, expressed concerns that “one of the fighting parties” – he did not identify which one – had seized control of the central public health laboratory in Khartoum and “kicked out all of the technicians”.
Kawahara said he boarded the #SDF plane to #Djibouti after traveling to #PortSudan in the country's northeast from the capital #Khartoum, but he "cannot talk about it because doing so could endanger the lives of Japanese nationals still in the country."
An Indian citizen who was evacuated from #Khartoum told The Hindu buses had to travel nearly 800 km from Khartoum to #PortSudan to bring them to the point of extraction where #INSSumedha was waiting to take Indian evacuees to #Jeddah (#SaudiArabia).
"As #OperationKaveri led by #INSSumedha gets underway from #PortSudan to #Jeddah in #SaudiArabia, India Today uses satellite imagery and open-source tools to map its journey that is bringing back citizens stranded in the violence-hit region."
"Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Eduardo de Vega said seven more buses carrying at least 300 Filipinos left from Sudan to #Egypt on Wednesday morning.
This was in addition to the 50 Filipino evacuees who had started moving out of Sudan on Tuesday through government-assisted land services."
"The clashes that we're seeing ... are in part the result of these two autocratic leaders' actions, who not only are in charge of vast armies and control much of the state's economy, but which have also been emboldened over the last three years by being key stakeholders in the political process," says Soliman.
Foreign Secretary Kwatra said India has set up control rooms in #Jeddah and #PortSudan that are coordinating with the headquarter here and said the evacuation has to deal with factors such as lack of diesel and buses on the ground.
"#Britain has been evacuating civilians from the #WadiSeidna airbase north of #Khartoum since Tuesday, in a series of flights going via #Cyprus to the #UK, but it will only pick up British nationals, their spouses and children under 18."
If this airbase closes only the longer (800-1,000km away ), more dangerous overland routes will remain.
The Sudanese Armed Forces, loyal to Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and its rival, the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group, traded blame for the incident at the #WadiSeidna airbase, 12.5 miles (20km) north of #Khartoum on the western bank of the #Nile.
"Hundreds of people had been told to risk the ongoing fighting and try to make it to the evacuation centre at the #WadiSeidna airbase – about 14 miles north of #Khartoum and its twin city, #Omdurman"
"In late March, Ahmad Mahmoud submitted his passport and visa application to the Swedish embassy in #Khartoum, the capital of #Sudan. He never imagined they would not give his travel document back."
A UN High Commissioner for Refugees (#UNHCR) employee told #AlJazeera the agency is working with the government, particularly with the Ministry of Health, to provide necessary supplies to people at the border.
The challenge is how to transport critical supplies safely to the hospitals who need it.
"The first international cargo shipment with medical supplies landed Sunday in #PortSudan. It’s a glimmer of hope in the country, where a conflict between the armed forces and a paramilitary group has put thousands of innocent civilians at risk, including children, who are already severely malnourished. "
"China has deployed the guided missile destroyer Nanning and another supply ship with 490 military personnel on board to assist with the evacuation, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
It is the third time that the Chinese navy has sent warships to carry out an evacuation mission abroad, following rescue operations in #Libya in 2011 and #Yemen in 2015."
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