France has begun a "rapid evacuation" of its citizens and diplomatic staff from Sudan , where violent fighting has entered its second week, the French Foreign Ministry announced Sunday.

And the French Foreign Ministry pointed out that the process will also include European citizens and others from “allied partner countries,” without providing additional details.

A diplomatic source said that both the Sudanese army forces and the Rapid Support Forces "provided security guarantees" that would allow this operation to take place.

The same source pointed out that about 250 French citizens reside in Sudan.

The announcement of the French initiative comes hours after US President Joe Biden announced that US forces carried out a mission to evacuate US embassy staff from Khartoum.

Since its outbreak on April 15, battles in Sudan between the army led by Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces led by Lieutenant General Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo, known as "Hamidti", have caused hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries.

The two former allies seized all power in a coup in 2021, removing the civilians who shared power with them. However, the differences and the struggle for power soon began between them, although they remained latent in the first period.

The World Health Organization said more than 420 people were killed and more than 3,700 wounded in the fighting across Sudan, but the actual death toll is believed to be higher.