Canadian recounts harrowing journey to get out of Khartoum

Azza Ahmed is relieved to have made her way out of a dangerous situation in Khartoum.

The Sudanese-Canadian recently made a harrowing journey to flee the Sudanese capital on short notice, board a German military flight and, with her mother and aunt, managed to escape the fighting that has erupted in the country.

"I think yesterday was probably the first day that I slept without the sound of bombs ringing in my ear," Ahmed told CBC News Network on Wednesday.

The fighting in Sudan has pitted the country's military against the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), with the two sides engaged in a power struggle. Wednesday marked the second day of a three-day truce, but The Associated Press reported that gunfire and explosions could be heard in parts of Khartoum and nearby Omdurman.

Fleeing on short notice

Ahmed had recently been in a part of Khartoum that was near a RSF-held television station — which she said was a dangerous place to be.

"Luckily for us, our cousins had enough gas to come and get us out of that area and take us to a safer location," said Ahmed, who got out of that area on Sunday.

"We basically left with the clothes on our backs and just all the important documents."

Early Monday morning, Ahmed said the Canadian Embassy got in touch with her to let her know a flight would be leaving the country within hours.

But Ahmed said she and her family members had to make their own way to a military airport "in order to get out."

Family members were able to get them where they needed to go, but Ahmed said the high-stakes journey was "quite scary."

The drive took about two hours. Ahmed, her mother and her aunt were on the plane within a few hours after their arrival. They flew first to Jordan, then Germany.

'It was a lot'

"The past 11, 12 days have been hell," said Ahmed, who said it's hard to believe she and her family members made it.

"The second we touched down in Jordan, I couldn't even believe that we were alive ... it was a lot."

And while Ahmed is now safe and out of the country, the stress is still palpable — and she worries about the other Canadians who been unable to leave.

"I am grateful for my life and for my mom and for my aunt's lives," Ahmed said. 

"Some people who didn't have passports are still stuck in the middle of the fighting, in dangerous situations."

The Canadian Press reports that 150 Canadians and permanent residents have so far received help to flee Sudan. But there are hundreds more who have asked for Ottawa's help in getting out.

Emphasizing her appreciation for the help she received in getting out of Sudan, Ahmed said Ottawa's response to the emergency "could have been a lot better" — noting there was some confusion in the details surrounding the evacuation flight and there could have been more communication about it.

Defence Minister Anita Anand confirmed Wednesday that Canada will deploy roughly 200 troops to help co-ordinate the evacuation of civilians from Sudan.

Ahead of question period in the House of Commons, Anand told a hastily assembled group of reporters that two C-130J Hercules transports are in east Africa preparing for flights into Khartoum "as soon as conditions on the ground permit."