A vehicle crosses an empty street in Khartoum, Sudan, Saturday, April 29, 2023, as gunfire and heavy artillery fire continued despite the extension of a cease-fire between the country's two top generals. Canada is stopping flights out of the capital Khartoum and relocating its Sudan evacuation efforts to the Red Sea, joining other nations in a move to continue removing people from Port Sudan as violence in the country continues. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Marwan Ali
OTTAWA – Canada is relocating its efforts to get stranded Canadians out of Sudan from the capital to a distant port city as violence continues to escalate between the country’s army and a powerful paramilitary group.
Defense Minister Anita Anand says about 550 people, including more than 400 Canadians, left the country on six military-run flights from the country’s main airport in Khartoum between Thursday and Saturday.
But deteriorating safety conditions in the Sudanese capital made it necessary to suspend future flights as of Saturday night, and Anand says evacuation efforts will now be based out of the city of Port Sudan about 800 kilometres away.
Canada’s Chief of the Defence Staff, Gen. Wayne Eyre, says pilots using night vision goggles saw gunfire exchanges and fighting on the ground in Khartoum on Saturday as they conducted two flights carrying 205 passengers, including 60 Canadians.
Anand says Canadian officials are joining an American-led relocation to Port Sudan, where she says there are commercial and other options for leaving the country.
She also says Canada has two ships on the Red Sea capable of supporting operations in Port Sudan.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published April 30, 2023.
