Friday April 21, 2023
Mogadishu (HOL) - Somali government repatriated the first Somali students stranded in Sudan to Ethiopia on Thursday, amidst Sudan fighting entered its sixth day. The citizens will be taken to Somalia in the coming days.
The acting permanent secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who is also the coordinator of the committee appointed by the government to evacuate the Somali students in Sudan, Ambassador Abdirahman Noor Mohammed Dinaari, said that 50 students were taken to the border of Ethiopia.
The Somali embassy has prepared transportation for the other students, he added.
The ambassador also mentioned that the government would take another group of citizens to Ethiopia in the coming days and then take them to Somalia.
"In response to the call of President Hassan Sheikh, we have started to evacuate Somali citizens from Sudan, many of whom are students. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Somalia has made efforts to evacuate the students stuck in Sudan," said Ambassador Dinar.
Since the fighting erupted on Saturday, nearly 300 people have been killed, and thousands more have been injured. The conflict has pitted army units loyal to Burhan, the head of Sudan's transitional governing sovereign council, and the regular army against the RSF, led by Hemedti, who is the deputy head of the council. Their power struggle has derailed a shift to civilian rule and raised fears of a long, brutal civil war.
The United Nations has reported that up to 20,000 people have fled the escalating violence in Sudan to seek safety in neighboring Chad, many of whom lack basic needs such as food, water, and shelter.
Sudan's paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), said in a statement that it would observe a 72-hour ceasefire, which would come into effect at 6 a.m. (04:00 GMT) on Friday, marking the beginning of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr.