Sudan: Syria refugee killed by militia during evacuation attempt

A Syrian refugee has been killed by an armed Sudanese militia whilst trying to leave Sudan.

According to Orient Net, Omar Arrata was part of a group of Syrians who were trying to leave the capital to get to Port Sudan where an evacuation mission is underway.

Thousands of people are gathering at Port Sudan to be evacuated to Saudi Arabia via ferry.

On Monday, Omar, an engineer, was attacked by the armed group, who also stole belongings and money from other members of the group.

Orient Net reports that Omar was killed in front of his wife and children after confronting the gunmen after their car was stopped in north Khartoum near Al-Baraha Hospital.

READ: Syria refugees desperate for a new shelter amid raging battles in Sudan

One Syrian doctor living in Sudan, Heba Ali Al-Muhaid, has appealed to the public to rescue Syrians trapped in the fighting.

Nearly a dozen Syrians have died so far as violence engulfs the country.

According to UN figures from 2021, more than 90,000 Syrian refugees live in Khartoum.

Syrian nationals sought refuge in the country in the aftermath of the 2011 uprising in Syria when the regime and its allies turned on protesters.

Violence has spread across Sudan for almost two weeks now after a power struggle broke out between army chief General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and paramilitary commander Lt. General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti.

Over 400 people have been killed, and thousands are trying to flee the country as warring parties exchange gunfire and shelling.

Doctors have warned that the healthcare system is close to collapse as hospitals have been deliberately targeted and supplies of medicine, blood, water and electricity run dangerously low.