US assists some citizens in leaving Sudan

Washington has begun its first organized effort to get Americans out of the conflict-torn nation.

After ordering Americans to remain put for more than a week due to conflict between rival factions vying for control of the East African country, President Joe Biden’s administration has started the first round of mass evacuations of Americans from Sudan.

The State Department in Washington announced on Saturday that a convoy of vehicles coordinated by the US and carrying Americans, employees hired locally, and nationals of other countries had successfully arrived in Port Sudan. They will then be able to fly to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, across the Red Sea from there. The action was taken a week after US Navy Seals removed American embassy personnel from Khartoum and days after other countries started evacuating their citizens from the war-torn Sudan.

The number of the approximately 16,000 US civilians living in Sudan, according to the State Department, who were evacuated on Saturday in the convoy was not disclosed. The group’s size was estimated by the media to be “hundreds.” Following the recent departure of thousands of their citizens from Sudan, other nations like Saudi Arabia, Spain, the UK, Germany, and France are reportedly winding down their evacuations.

The Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces organization have been engaged in violent clashes, and the White House has issued an urgent warning that time is running out. The press secretary for the White House, Karine Jean-Pierre, advised reporters on Thursday that Americans who wanted to leave Sudan should “take advantage of the options that are available to them in the next 24 to 48 hours.”

While US Navy ships are currently stationed off Sudan’s coast to offer any assistance that may be required, US military forces have also deployed surveillance and intelligence assets to support evacuation routes. In a statement released on Saturday, Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said, “Our focus has been and remains to assist as many US citizens depart as safely as possible.”

Prior to other nations conducting large-scale civilian evacuations, the Biden administration insisted that doing so was not practical. The State Department claimed that in recent days, it has assisted in the evacuation of certain Americans by allies.

Following its bungled August 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, which left thousands of Americans stranded and hundreds dead, the administration’s handling of such crises has come under increased scrutiny.