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As the violence in Sudan escalates, sources tell Global News there are no further air evacuations currently planned for Canadians in the conflict-ridden African nation and focus is now turning to departures via land and sea.
That comes after a senior military leader warned late last week that the window for air evacuations was rapidly closing as the situation on the ground continued to deteriorate.
Defence Minister Anita Anand is now scheduled to provide an update on the situation and take questions from the media at a virtual news conference at 10 a.m. E.T. Sunday.
On Saturday, two Canadian military planes evacuated people to a third country, Anand said in a tweet.
“We will continue to do our utmost to assist Canadians in Sudan who require departure assistance, as conditions allow,” she said.
Since Thursday, six Canadian flights have airlifted evacuees out of Sudan.
Sources tell Global News that Canadians looking to leave Sudan could now possibly depart by coordinated road moves run by the United States.
Canada is also looking at beefing up its presence in the Port of Sudan, roughly a 12-hour drive away from the capital of Khartoum. Canada already has naval capabilities there and it has been a key location other countries have used to evacuate their citizens.
From the port, evacuees would travel to Saudi Arabia on an arduous 24-hour boat ride.
As of Saturday morning, more than 375 Canadians had been evacuated on Canadian military planes and allied aircrafts.
During a news conference Saturday Anand said that the window for opportunity to evacuate at the airfield was closing and Canada was looking at “a number of options to evacuate Canadians, including through maritime assets and overground transport.”
In recent weeks, Sudan has been racked by fighting between the military and a rival paramilitary force, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which are locked in a power struggle threatening to destabilize the wider region. Hundreds of civilians have been killed and thousands of others wounded.
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