Japan PM Kishida updates on Sudan evacuations

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Tuesday that eight Japanese citizens, including embassy officials and their family, were airlifted from an air force base in northern Khartoum by the French military, after 45 others had been evacuated by the Japanese defense troops to nearby Djibouti.

Japan's foreign ministry said its embassy in Sudan was temporarily closed and will operate out of Djibouti to provide help for those who chose to stay. Tokyo sent a team of foreign ministry officials to Djibouti to arrange the evacuees’ return to Japan. Japan dispatched three transport and refueling planes and 370 troops, to Djibouti to help evacuate about 60 Japanese nationals from Sudan.