The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Defense said today that about 100 French and foreign nationals have already been expelled from Sudan, and more will follow.

“The first plane took off from Khartoum and is expected to arrive in Djibouti around 18:00,” while the second “is already in the area and is due to take off at 17:30.” There are about 100 people in each of them, the same sources added, specifying that the evacuation could continue for another one to two days.

When asked about the shelling of the motorcade, which, according to some media reports, wounded a Frenchman, diplomatic and military sources said they “did not want to comment on such rumors” because “the operation has not yet been completed.”

“We would not have done this if we did not have security guarantees from the warring parties, as they have repeatedly repeated,” they added.

Among the countries that turned to France for help in the evacuation of their citizens, a source in the Foreign Ministry named Germany, Switzerland, Great Britain, Belgium, Niger, Morocco, Egypt and Ethiopia. However, he did not specify whether there were citizens of these countries on board the two planes.

Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra from Amsterdam said the Dutch managed to leave Khartoum on a French plane, noting that it was a “very complex operation” carried out with the help of France, Germany and other countries. Hoekstra hoped a larger group could take off later tonight with two military aircraft the Netherlands sent to Jordan last week to help with the evacuation.

A total of 150 Dutch citizens have asked their government to help them leave Sudan.

Source: APE-MPE, AFP, Reuters.