Another ship carrying 187 citizens including Pakistanis docks in Jeddah

Another Saudi Arabian Navy ship carrying 187 civilians from 13 different countries fleeing violence in Sudan docked in Saudi Arabia Thursday.

The ship from Sudan has arrived in Jeddah with 187 citizens of 13 countries including Saudi and Pakistani citizens from Sudan.

The Saudi Ministry of Interior is using all means to provide all possible facilities for those coming from Sudan to port of Jeddah.

After their immigration process, they are being provided with special accommodation where they are equipped with all basic facilities.

Yesterday, a ship carrying 1,687 civilians from more than 50 countries fleeing violence in Sudan docked in Saudi Arabia Wednesday, the largest evacuation effort by the Gulf kingdom so far.

Saudi Arabia has received several rounds of evacuees by air and sea since fighting broke out in Africa's third-biggest country on April 15, part of what analysts describe as an effort to position itself as a major player in responding to regional crises. As many as 37 Pakistanis had been evacuated from the Sudan port in that and safely reached the Saudi port city of Jeddah.

Over 3,500 people have fled Sudan for Ethiopia: UN

More than 3,500 people, including hundreds of Turkish nationals, have arrived in Ethiopia after fleeing heavy fighting in Sudan, an official from the UN's International Organization for Migration told AFP.

The United Nations has warned that the violence could force as many as 270,000 people to seek refuge in neighbouring South Sudan and Chad, while others have fled to Egypt and Ethiopia.

"Between April 21 and April 25, more than 3,500 arrivals have been recorded from over 35 nationalities," Eric Mazango, communications officer for the IOM in Ethiopia, told AFP in an email received Thursday.

"Of the total arrivals recorded, the largest group are Turkish nationals at more than 40 percent, followed by Ethiopians at 14 percent," he said, with the number of refugees shooting up from 200 late last week to 1,300 on Tuesday.

The fighting between Sudanese troops and paramilitaries erupted on April 15, with hundreds of people killed, while civilians are suffering from severe shortages of water, food, medicine and fuel.

"IOM Ethiopia has received several requests from embassies for reception and transportation assistance for about 700 third-country nationals arriving on the Ethiopian side of the Sudan border," Mazango said.

He added that IOM officials were arranging transport from the border town of Metema to the cities of Gondar and Addis Ababa to manage the increase in arrivals.

China evacuates 1,300 citizens, other nationals from Sudan

Chinese navy ships sent to rescue citizens from conflict-hit Sudan have also evacuated nationals from five other countries, the foreign ministry in Beijing said on Thursday.

Multiple nations have scrambled to evacuate embassy staff and citizens by road, air and sea from Sudan, where fighting between the army and paramilitaries has killed hundreds and led to acute shortages of water, food, medicines and fuel.

Rescue operations have intensified since a 72-hour ceasefire took effect on Tuesday.

But some fighting was reported around Sudan on Thursday, as well as air strikes in the capital Khartoum.

"So far, more than 1,300 Chinese citizens have been safely evacuated," foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.

She said many had left Sudan on board Chinese naval vessels.

"We have helped citizens of five countries to evacuate Sudan on Chinese ships," Mao said.

"Other countries have also asked for China's assistance in evacuation."

China has deployed the guided missile destroyer Nanning and another supply ship with 490 military personnel on board to assist with the evacuation, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

It is the third time that the Chinese navy has sent warships to carry out an evacuation mission abroad, following rescue operations in Libya in 2011 and Yemen in 2015.

A video clip released by the Chinese navy shows an officer boarding a vessel carrying a toddler and other evacuees waving Chinese flags.

The first batch of 678 people evacuated by the Chinese team arrived safely at a port in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, by ship on Thursday morning, CCTV said.

China says it is Sudan's largest trading partner, with more than 130 companies investing there by mid-2022.

The Chinese foreign ministry said on Monday it estimated about 1,500 of its nationals were in Sudan.

More than 300 Chinese nationals have crossed over to countries bordering Sudan by land, Mao said on Wednesday.

The fighting has killed at least 512 people and wounded more than 4,000, according to Sudan's health ministry, and reduced some districts of greater Khartoum to ruins.

UN agencies reported Sudanese civilians fleeing the fighting to countries including Chad, Egypt and South Sudan.

With Khartoum's international airport disabled after battles that damaged many aircraft, groups of foreigners have been airlifted out from smaller airstrips.

Other evacuations were taking place from Port Sudan, an 850-kilometre (530-mile) drive from Khartoum.

An Indonesian military plane flew 110 Indonesian nationals from Port Sudan to Jeddah on Wednesday, the foreign ministry in Jakarta said on Thursday.

It brought to 667 the total number of Indonesians evacuated from Sudan since the conflict began.

With Inputs from AFP