Tokyo, 24 April, /AJMEDIA/
Some Japanese nationals have started evacuating from Sudan by land, likely joining a United Nations convoy, a government source said Sunday, as fighting between the country’s military and a paramilitary force continues to escalate and triggers a humanitarian crisis.
The convoy appears to be headed to Port Sudan in the country’s northeast, according to the Japanese government source. Meanwhile, three Air Self-Defense Force aircraft arrived on Sunday in Djibouti, about 1,200 kilometers southeast of Sudan’s capital Khartoum, as part of the evacuation efforts.
The three planes on standby in the Horn of Africa are a C-130 and C-2 transport aircraft and a KC-767 aerial refueling plane.
A total of 63 Japanese citizens, including embassy staff, were in Sudan as of Wednesday, a government official said earlier.
Security remains volatile, as clashes intensify in Sudan, with a tenuous cease-fire failing to hold.
The clashes have sent a number of countries scrambling to evacuate their nationals. The United States said it has pulled its government personnel out of the country, while France and Saudi Arabia are also evacuating their nationals.