Paul Pradier
Reporting from Paris

A diplomatic source from the French foreign ministry has told the BBC that evacuation operations are still ongoing, but 491 people have already been evacuated - including 196 French citizens.

"We cannot give an exact figure for the French citizens still in Sudan, as some have decided not to leave the country," the source added.

Speaking to the BBC from Djibouti, eastern Africa, British doctor Iman Abu Gargar says she doesn't feel the UK government was providing any assistance to citizens in Sudan.

She says her son, who is an Irish national, received an email telling him to go to the French embassy to be evacuated, and she went along with her daughter to see if they could be evacuated too.

"I spoke to [someone at] the French consulate yesterday and he was very kind," she says.

The French consulate then let her and her daughter evacuate with them, she says.

But Dr Gargar was forced to leave her father - who needs around-the-clock care - behind.

"There were no good or bad decisions... that's what I kept saying to everyone who was weighing the options 'do we stay or do we go'. There were only difficult decisions to make. I hope no-one has to make the decisions I had to make," she says.

"They [the British government] are saying there's so much fighting we cannot come in, yet there were hundreds, if my headcount is correct, hundreds of soldiers from Spain, Italy, France, Sweden."

The British government maintains it is providing as much assistance as possible to citizens, and working to find safe evacuation routes.

Nick Beake
Europe correspondent

More than 1,100 EU citizens have now been evacuated from Sudan, an EU diplomatic source has told the BBC.

Officials are working on the basis that around 1,700 citizens had been in the country when the violence erupted, the source said.

With more flights planned for today, figures were said to be changing constantly.

The source confirmed that EU countries had been working closely together to maximise the impact of their operations and had been co-ordinating efforts with external partners, including the UK.

The violence in Sudan is at risk of causing a "catastrophic conflagration within Sudan that could engulf the whole region and beyond", the UN secretary general has warned.

In new remarks calling for a ceasefire, António Guterres condemned "indiscriminate bombardment of civilian areas", including attacks on medical facilities.

He called on both sides to "stop combat operations in densely populated areas and to allow unhindered humanitarian aid operations".

Guterres also said he was in constant contact with both sets of combatants and called on them to return to the negotiating table.

He said the UN is working with humanitarian organisations in Sudan and "reconfiguring our presence" there to allow them to continue supporting those in need.

A Sudanese man who escaped Khartoum with his young family on Sunday said the evacuation was a "horrific thing to go through".

Before fleeing the capital, Taha, his wife and six-month-old daughter were left stranded with no food, no power, and no access to water.

He said they were finally able to leave after many attempts.

"I mean, leaving alone, it's easy. But when you have an infant, there are so many things to put into consideration," he told the BBC.

Taha said his family's belongings were searched "so many times" by RSF soldiers on the way to the bus station.

"They were able to take my camera, my laptop - so many of our belongings, except for the bus money which was hidden in my little daughter's socks.

"It's a bit risky, but if they had taken that, we'd be going back into the fighting pit again," he added.

He said his family has since found safety and access to food and water.

Ece Göksedef
Live reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Turkey started evacuation efforts on Sunday and announced three different gathering points for the citizens on the Turkish embassy’s social media accounts.

I've spoken to a Turkish diplomat, who said that was the easiest way to reach out to Turks in the country, despite the risks of announcing the locations.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has good relations with both sides in the conflict, and the Turkish evacuation began after he held phone calls with generals of both warring sides on Saturday.

On Sunday morning, three buses left from the city of Wad Madani, south of the capital, Khartoum, and another 10 from Khartoum, carrying more than 600 people in total.

But violence has hampered the evacuation operations.

Andrew Mitchell, UK minister for development and Africa, told the BBC that two of the Turkish gathering points were shot at: "It's incredibly dangerous,” he said.

The Turkish foreign ministry gave a different account, saying there was an explosion near the third meeting point - and they were now working to ensure security - but the convoys themselves weren't targeted.

The diplomat also confirmed the embassy staff, including the ambassador himself, were on the ground in Khartoum directing the evacuations and there were no evacuation plans for officials for now.

Evacuations have been taking place as foreign nationals attempt to leave Khartoum.

Here are some photos of the people from many different nations leaving Sudan's capital.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

Image source, EPA

Image source, Italian ministry of defence

Image source, Indonesian embassy Khartoum

South Africa has started to evacuate its citizens from Khartoum, the country's head of diplomacy has now said.

"Our nationals & embassy staff are on their way out of #Khartoum, external. I can't disclose the security & logistics of the operation. But they are moving out," Clayson Monyela wrote on Twitter., external

Earlier on Monday, he told the BBC getting people out of Sudan was difficult, but that they were trying to help all South Africans.

The United Nations has evacuated hundreds of staff members and their families from Khartoum and other areas of Sudan, a spokesman for the organisation's secretary general has confirmed.

António Guterres has repeated his calls for a ceasefire to be put in place to allow civilians to escape from areas affected by clashes.

The spokesman adds the UN will continue its work with staff both inside and outside the country.

Separately, the UN has also confirmed its head of mission, Volker Perthes, remains in Sudan for now.

A South African diplomat has said evacuating people from Sudan has been a challenge, and called for a ceasefire to allow trapped civilians to escape.

Foreign affairs spokesman Clayson Monyela said all routes out of Sudan's capital Khartoum are "risky and dangerous".

Monyela said the airport is still closed and fighting shows no sign of abating.

"This is why we continue to call for a ceasefire to allow for a safe passage for those who want to get out and to allow humanitarian aid," he told BBC's Newsday programme.

Monyela said South African authorities are "working around the clock to get our people".

He said they are focused on evacuating all South African nationals, as well as some nationals of neighbouring countries.

Cecilia Macaulay
BBC News

Image source, Muktar Husain Osman

A Sierra Leonean man who is in the process of fleeing Khartoum has told the BBC he is "really grateful" for the efforts the Tanzanian embassy has made to evacuate students of all nationalities from Sudan, as the country descends into more violence.

Sidikie Fofana, who was studying for a master's degree in finance and banking in Khartoum, says Tanzania has gathered students of different nationalities on to a convoy with five buses that were about to leave Khartoum when he spoke to me.

Tanzania's ambassador, Silima Kombo Haji, said his country was trying to help other African citizens, not just Tanzanians, in a voice note sent to Fofana.

Image source, Sidikie Fofana

Fofana said the last few days had been harrowing for him and his wife, who were "locked inside" their home with no food or water for three days.

Even on his journey to escape, food and water is still low, he says: "We’re only travelling right now with a flask of water. God knows how long that might last," pointing out it was currently around 46C (115F).

"We’re taking all chances and hope and pray we get" to our destination, which he says is the Ethiopian border.

He also expressed disappointment with the US embassy, who he said "could not evacuate" his wife, who is a US citizen.

The US has evacuated its embassy staff from Khartoum., external

He acknowledges the route he will be taking is "very risky", but cannot stay in Khartoum because "nothing is safe" there.

Image source, Sidikie Fofana

The UK must secure a temporary ceasefire to evacuate British citizens, a senior Conservative MP has told the BBC.

Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the House of Commons defence select committee, says the government must use its influence and speak to both sides of the conflict, making it "very clear that there needs to be a 12-hour ceasefire so we can get our people out".

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's World at One programme, Ellwood called for urgency given the situation in Sudan is "deteriorating rapidly".

Asked if there could be an attempted evacuation without any pause in the flighting, he said: "There must be something because if you do not offer some formal method of getting out of the country, individuals will take it under their own volition.

"We must not abandon the British passport holders."

Laura Gozzi
Live reporter

More now from Italian aid worker Stefano Rebora as he tried to escape from Khartoum:

In the early hours of Sunday morning, he got a call from the Italian crisis unit who told him they were going to attempt an airlift the next day.

Rebora and his family drove to the meeting point: "We were 4km (2.4 miles) away from it and it took us two hours to get there - and we had to map out and avoid all the areas of the city where we knew there were clashes and we had to factor in all the checkpoints.

"We then met other Italians at the ambassador’s residence and got in a convoy to go to the airport. It took us four hours to cover 20km. On the way, we saw bodies everywhere - there’s no security whatsoever so nobody dares go collect them - but there’s utter destruction too. Everything is just devastated."

He added: "Lots of soldiers are kids, 20 years old or so, and they’re just looting. Not a single shop has been spared - nothing.

"And it’ll be very difficult to get things back to where they were because first the fighting has to stop and then there needs to be people who are willing to rebuild. It’s a huge blow to all Sudanese people.

In the meantime, here's a little recap of what has been happening so far today.

Multiple nations have been pushing to evacuate their diplomats and citizens stuck in Sudan, where fighting is continuing for a 10th day.

The UK government says it is in touch with Britons still there after an evacuation operation on Sunday only rescued diplomats and their families.

• 'Enormously difficult': Conservative MP Alicia Kearns earlier said evacuation was "enormously difficult" as there could be more than 4,000 Britons still stuck in Sudan. Kearns said a lack of regular communication with British nationals suggested no lessons had been learned since Afghanistan
• Relative calm: The situation is reportedly calm in Sudan's capital Khartoum today, with no reports of the loud and intense gunfire that took place last week. But it is difficult to get a clear picture of what is happening there as fighting has disrupted communications
• French embassy closed: France said it closed its embassy in Khartoum, but it will continue its operations from Paris. The French foreign ministry said it had evacuated about 388 people so far, including citizens of Europe, Africa and Asia
• US evacuations: Meanwhile, US officials said about 90 American embassy staff were evacuated by US special forces on Sunday morning

Laura Gozzi
Live reporter

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Stefano Rebora, the president of Italian NGO Music for Peace, was evacuated from Khartoum on Sunday.

I spoke to him while he was in an Italian army base in Djibouti, eastern Africa, waiting to be flown to Rome.

He said the centre of Khartoum was "devastated" as both groups are targeting central government buildings and communication centres.

In Laura's next post, we will bring you more on how Rebora and his family managed to escape.

Meanwhile, American embassy staff were evacuated by US special forces early on Sunday morning, officials have told US media.

Three Chinook helicopters carrying members of the Navy’s elite Seal Team Six flew into Khartoum and were on the ground for less than an hour.

They rescued about 90 people, according to the New York Times,, external and then made the 800-mile (1,300km) journey back to Djibouti.

When the operation was over, US President Joe Biden praised the “unmatched skill” of the US service members.

The US government has said it is trying to help Americans living in Sudan to leave the country, but warned it will not evacuate them.

Some were on bus convoys making their way through the desert, reports the Wall Street Journal, while others have turned to private security firms to get them out.

France's foreign ministry says it has closed its embassy in Sudan.

In a statement, it says the embassy in Khartoum should no longer be considered a regrouping point for people wanting to leave the capital.

The embassy says it will continue its operations from Paris under the responsibility of the ambassador.

"France is mobilised to facilitate a ceasefire and the resumption of the political transition process in Sudan. It fully supports the co-ordination mechanism led by the African Union, the IGAD [Intergovernmental Authority on Development in Eastern Africa], the Arab League, the European Union and the United Nations," it added.

France "calls on all parties to end the fights, allow humanitarian access, spare the civilian population, and return to the path of political dialogue”.

Mohamed Osman
Reporting from Khartoum

I can hear less gunfire and explosions than in previous days. The heavy fighting outside the army HQ has stopped.

As a result, for the first time since the fighting started, I can see lots of women and children out on the streets near where I live in Omdurman - Khartoum’s twin city. Some are buying oil and wheat, while many queue for bakeries.

Many Sudanese have left Khartoum for other parts of the country where they have family ties. Others have left by bus for Cairo. The buses are still running, and the roads are generally safe once you leave Khartoum.

In the capital, the internet has been down since last night. We have three internet providers - one stopped working a few days ago but the other two stopped working last night.

Sources say the RSF cut one provider because it wants to stop the army from using the internet to stream programmes onto national TV.

The RSF is in control of the state TV building but they cannot broadcast programmes - the army was doing this via the internet but state TV went off air two days ago.

In some parts of the city, water and electricity have now been restored, but not everywhere.

A Sudanese-born broadcaster has told the BBC the situation in Sudan is "incredibly dire" and "terrifying".

Speaking from Cairo, Egypt, Yassmin Abdel-Magied said some members of her family had made it safely to Port Sudan in the south-east of the country, but there were other family members whom she had not heard from for at least 24 hours.

She said they had gone extended periods without food and water, but did not want to leave and attempt an escape.

"Different generations have different opinions," she said, with the younger people wanting to go and the older people wanting to stay.

The most heart-breaking part, she says, is that no-one knows when the fighting will end; however, the violence is not entirely surprising because tensions "had been boiling" for a while between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces who are currently fighting, she added.

Image source, Reuters

It's hard to get a full and clear picture of what's going on in Sudan, because communications have been disrupted by the fighting.

But reports suggest things are relatively calm in the capital Khartoum today, as foreign countries have been rushing to evacuate their nationals.

We're not hearing reports of the same level of loud and intense gunfire that took place last week.

Internet connections remain largely disrupted across Sudan, with the power struggle well into its second week, the UK-based internet monitoring group NetBlocks reports.

According to the latest figures, more than 420 people have been killed and thousands wounded since fighting broke out on 15 April - though the actual figure may be higher.