With the airport closed and skies unsafe, thousands of foreigners - including embassy staff, aid workers and students in Khartoum and elsewhere in Africa's third largest country - have also been unable to get out. The army said early on Saturday it would provide safe pathways to evacuate nationals from the United States, Britain, France and China, while Saudi Arabia and Jordan were already evacuating via Port Sudan on the Red Sea. It said airports in Khartoum and Darfur's biggest city Nyala were problematic.
US President Joe Biden on Saturday said the US military conducted an operation to extract US government personnel from Khartoum, adding that Washington is temporarily suspending operations at its embassy as fighting rocks Sudan.