China has deployed its navy to rescue Chinese citizens from conflict-stricken Sudan, as fighting between the army and paramilitaries intensifies.

The ongoing conflict has resulted in acute shortages of water, food, medicines, and fuel, and has led to the evacuation of embassy staff and citizens from multiple nations. A 72-hour ceasefire began on Tuesday, but fighting has continued in various parts of the country.

The Chinese defence ministry spokesman, Tan Kefei, stated that the navy was deployed in response to the deteriorating security situation and to protect the lives and property of Chinese people in Sudan. China, Sudan’s largest trading partner, has already safely evacuated an initial group of citizens, with over 1,100 Chinese nationals and Hong Kong residents evacuated on Wednesday alone.

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More than 800 Chinese citizens are due to be evacuated by sea from April 25 to 27, and over 300 people have already crossed over to neighbouring countries.

Sudan’s health ministry has reported that at least 512 people have been killed and over 4,000 wounded in the conflict, with UN agencies stating that Sudanese civilians are fleeing to Chad, Egypt, and South Sudan.

With Khartoum’s international airport disabled, groups of foreigners have been airlifted out from smaller airstrips, and other evacuations are taking place from Port Sudan, 850km from Khartoum.

An Indonesian military plane has already flown 110 Indonesian nationals from Port Sudan to the Saudi city of Jeddah on Wednesday, bringing the total number of Indonesians evacuated from Sudan since the outbreak of conflict to 667.