UPDATE - Turkish evacuation plane landed safely in Sudan despite gunfire: Türkiye

ADDS MORE REMARKS OF TURKISH NATIONAL DEFENSE MINISTER, BACKGROUND

By Sarp Ozer

KAYSERI, Ankara (AA) - A Turkish military plane on a mission to evacuate Turkish citizens from conflict-torn Sudan landed safely at an airport despite gunfire, Türkiye's national defense minister said on Friday.

"As part of plans to evacuate our citizens, one of our C-130 aircraft landed at Wadi Seidna Airport, north of (the capital) Khartoum. There was gunfire from light arms during the landing of our second plane. Despite this, our plane landed safely," Hulusi Akar told reporters in the Kayseri province.

There were no casualties, he stressed.

Akar said a Turkish team inspected the damage to the plane, adding: "According to a preliminary assessment, we do not believe there is major damage. We believe we can repair it by teams we send from here. The exact situation will be clarified with an upcoming report."

Türkiye on Thursday deployed five military transport planes, including two A400M aircraft, to evacuate its remaining citizens from conflict-torn Sudan.

Earlier Friday, the Turkish National Defense Ministry announced that a Turkish C-130 evacuation plane headed to Wadi Seidna Air Base for evacuation came under small arms fire.

Meanwhile, the first group of Turkish citizens was safely brought to Türkiye by planes belonging to the Turkish Armed Forces early Friday.

- Port of Sudan

On evacuation efforts from the Port of Sudan, Akar said: "One of our planes got our citizens back from there. Our other A400M aircraft continues working for the evacuation of our citizens there. Hopefully it will leave there safely."

Evacuation efforts will continue until all Turkish citizens are transported out of Sudan, he said, adding: "We’re following the process closely."

A cease-fire that came into force at Tuesday midnight was the latest attempt to stop the fighting in Sudan that first erupted on April 15.

At least 460 people have been killed and more than 4,000 injured in clashes between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since the conflict began, according to the Sudanese Health Ministry.

A disagreement had been fomenting in recent months between the army and paramilitaries concerning military security reform.

The reform envisages full RSF participation in the military – one of the main issues in negotiations with international and regional parties for a transition to civilian, democratic rule.