People fleeing street fighting are transported in the back of a truck in southern Khartoum. Credit: AFP 
Sudanese army soldiers loyal to Army Commander Abdel Fattah Burhan take up position in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan April 20. Photo: AFP
The Sudanese army, Friday, claimed to have won the fight for Khartoum and began a «gradual cleansing of pockets of rebel groups around the capital.»
The claims were not immediately verified, but a Khartoum businessman told The Telegraph that the intense fighting around the army headquarters, which the RSF had been trying to storm for days, appeared to be over. Then around 6 a.m., people began to see army soldiers on the streets trying to comb the city from south to north to remove what was left,” the man said by phone on Friday afternoon.
“Today the fighting is very bad in Bahri, which is across the river from me,” he said, referring to the northern part of the city. «It's very noisy there today.»
The army later said it had agreed to a three-day ceasefire that the RSF had announced earlier that day. It was not immediately clear whether the fighting had indeed stopped.
At least 413 people were killed and 3,500 injured in the week of violence, the World Health Organization said.
Abdel Fattah Burhan, who was the de facto ruler of Sudan after the coup in 2021, promised that the military would win Photo: Anadolu hospitals in Doha, April 21
General Burhan, who effectively ruled Sudan after the coup in 2021, promised that the military would win and ensure the «safe transition of a huge African country to civilian rule.»
«We are confident that that we will overcome this test with our preparation, wisdom and strength,” he said in his first address to the nation since the outbreak of violence.
The Commonwealth Foreign and Development Office (FCDO) declined to say whether an evacuation of British nationals was planned, citing the dire security situation on the ground.
British people in Khartoum are being told to only follow FCDO advice on travel that it currently says they must stay at home and register with the embassy.
But flight tracking websites showed US, British, French and German military aircraft en route to Djibouti, where the US has a major air base.
Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, paramilitary Rapid Support Forces leader Photo: Reuters
U.S. officials have previously said they have deployed additional Marines to Djibouti to support a possible withdrawal of embassy staff from Khartoum. There is no widespread evacuation of approximately 19,000 other US citizens in the country.
The US State Department said it was in contact with hundreds of Americans in Sudan, warning those stranded in the country not to expect a coordinated evacuation.
Spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters at a press briefing, that given the closure of the Khartoum airport and the uncertain security situation in the country, it is up to the citizens to take measures to ensure security themselves.
The EU said that the seven Member States with a diplomatic presence in Khartoum are working together to coordinate the plan evacuate as soon as it is safe enough.
“At present, the assessment of those on site, including the EU embassy, is that security conditions do not allow this kind of operation,” a senior EU official said on Friday.
Jose Manuel Albarez, the Spanish foreign minister, separately stated that his government had put military transports on standby to evacuate 60 Spanish citizens and about 20 civilians from other countries.
Any evacuation operation will be complicated by ongoing fighting in Khartoum.
The capital's international airport is located in the city center and close to one of the most violent places. The fighting in the early days destroyed three aircraft on the runway and at least two workers were killed in crossfire.
“All airspace is closed. The airport is not open. The fuel depot was bombed the day before yesterday. If you wish to obtain permission to overfly, you do so at your own risk,” said an employee of a Sudanese aircraft company in Khartoum, who lives in a nearby RSF-controlled area.
An employee who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons , said the army claimed to have control of the airfield, but he believes the RSF probably held it.
He suggested that Port Sudan International Airport, located 12 hours northwest, will be the closest safe alternative to an evacuation operation.
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