American ship with evacuees from Sudan arrives in Saudi Arabia

2023-05-01 18:30:04, Kosova & Bota CNA

American ship with evacuees from Sudan arrives in Saudi Arabia

American citizens boarding the American ship

A US Navy transport ship arrived off the coast of Saudi Arabia, rescuing about 308 evacuees from Sudan. After mounting international pressure, the warring parties extended the ceasefire for three more days, although gunfire continued and the Sudanese capital was shrouded in black smoke today.

The US Navy ship carrying evacuees from Sudan arrived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Monday. According to Saudi officials, there were 308 evacuees on board, and Saudi media said 105 Americans were among them.

The evacuees were received by the staff of the American embassy wearing red T-shirts with the official coat of arms of the United States and then left by bus.

The ship USNS Brunswick is a fast transport ship, used during expeditions of the United States Navy. According to the spokesman of the US 5th Fleet, the ship had departed from Sudan the day before.

Sudan's army and rival paramilitary units said Sunday they would extend the ceasefire for another 72 hours. The decision was announced after international pressure to allow the safe passage of civilians and aid, but the ceasefire has so far failed to stop the fighting. Black smoke also covered the country's capital, Khartoum, on Monday. The parties accused each other of violating the ceasefire.

A sign of hope was the arrival on Sunday in Port Sudan of 8 tons of humanitarian aid, including surgical supplies.

The conflict has put more than 600,000 Sudanese children at risk, who suffered from malnutrition before the conflict began.

"We know that before the crisis, over 15 million people needed humanitarian assistance, and among them were 8 million children. With all the aerial bombardments, attacks on facilities, on water infrastructure, the destruction of vital vaccines - this figure will increase" , says Jill Lawler, head of UNICEF operations in Sudan.

Most of the Sudanese with dual citizenship have gathered towards the city 'Port Sudan' in the hope that they will be able to evacuate. But most of the internally displaced rely solely on the generosity of others to find shelter and food, like Ms Hasan, who bakes bread for refugees near the Egyptian border.

"The door of our house is open. We will welcome every person who comes. I hope that God will stop the fighting and the parties will agree to resolve the situation" , says Naamat Jabal Sayyid Hasan, a resident of Wadi Halfa.

The United Nations estimates that in one region alone, from the fighting in Khartoum and Darfur, 75,000 people have been displaced./ VOA