The Egyptian army said on Thursday that three flights carrying its troops had arrived at a Cairo airbase from Sudan the previous day, confirming an earlier statement by the Sudanese Armed Forces on the return of the soldiers to Egypt.
In a statement, the army also said that other Egyptian troops still in Sudan had reached Egypt’s embassy in Khartoum in coordination with the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Earlier, Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which is battling the Sudanese army, said it had handed over 27 Egyptian soldiers in its custody to the Red Cross on Thursday morning.
Egyptian air force technicians had been detained by fighters from Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces after the group attacked Merowe airport, north of the capital. A close ally of Sudan’s army, Egypt said the personnel were there for training and joint exercises. Soon afterwards, fighting erupted around the country between the RSF and Sudan’s army.
Egypt’s army said in a statement Thursday that all its technical crews had been flown home from Sudan in military transport planes. The Sudanese military also confirmed the evacuation, putting the number of Egyptian personnel at 177.
At the outbreak of the fighting, Cairo sources had denied speculation that Egyptian troops were siding with the Sudanese army in its showdown with the RSF.
Egypt has been involved in regional and international mediation aimed at putting an end to the armed conflict still raging in Sudan.
Foreign diplomats had hoped that a 24-hour truce could be expanded to a longer cease-fire and a return to negotiations over Sudan’s future. But the planned pause failed to interrupt the showdown between army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo.
Foreign governments have also geared up to evacuate their nationals from the country. But with the airports in Khartoum and other cities turned into battlegrounds, it has remained uncertain how they could do so.
Japan’s Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada on Thursday ordered military aircraft sent to the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti to stand by for an evacuation of around 60 Japanese nationals. Japan has troops in Djibouti on an anti-piracy mission who are also ready to help in the evacuation, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, the Dutch government sent military transport aircraft to the Jordanian port city of Aqaba late Wednesday. The defence ministry acknowledged that “evacuations are not possible at the moment” from Sudan but said that by stationing more resources nearby it can “react quickly and flexibly if necessary.”
