Ghana has managed to evacuate about 82 of its nationals, including students and professional footballers, from Sudan as armed clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces continue, the Ghanaian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration announced.
The evacuation took place during the 72-hour ceasefire announced last Monday night between the two clashing sides aimed to allow the safe evacuation of foreign diplomatic missions and the relocation of civilians from armed conflict zones, the epicenter of which is the North African country's capital city of Khartoum.
"The Ministry, in collaboration with its missions in Cairo, Addis Ababa, the Honorary Consul in Khartoum and student leaders have so far successfully evacuated two batches of 50 and 27 identified Ghanaian nationals to safety in Gedaref, Sudan," the ministry said in a statement. "They will be transported tomorrow to the Ethiopian border town of Metema where they will be received by Ghana Embassy officials, processed for Ethiopian entry visas and then repatriated home."
The Ghanaian ministry noted that the two groups evacuated through Sudan's eastern borders comprise 34 females and 43 males, most of whom are students.
The foreign ministry also noted that, in addition to the above listed individuals, three Ghanaian footballers and two other nationals working for an Australian Mining Company in the country "are being evacuated through the Egyptian border post of Wadi Halfa, north of Sudan", bringing the total number of Ghanaian nationals who have been evacuated to 82.
During the most recent temporary ceasefire, a number of foreign countries have managed to complete the evacuation of their citizens and diplomatic missions from Sudan, and some others are in the process of extracting their nationals trapped in the North African country.
On 15 April, violent clashes between the two parties broke out, with the epicenter in Khartoum. Government forces accused the rival Rapid Support Forces of mutiny and launched airstrikes against their bases. Abdel Fattah Burhan, the head of the Sudanese military, issued a decree disbanding the RSF. The parties have since introduced a number of temporary nationwide ceasefires, but the conflict has not been settled yet.
So far, around 600 people have died in the clashes, the Sudanese Health Ministry said. The World Health Organization has reported more than 450 deaths and said more than 4,000 people have been injured.