The United States military has evacuated American diplomats and their families from Sudan as fighting between rival commanders that has killed hundreds of civilians continued.
“Today, on my orders, the United States military conducted an operation to extract US government personnel from Khartoum,” U.S President Joe Biden said in a statement.
Earlier Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) said it co-ordinated the operation, involving six aircraft, with the U.S.
Exactly how many people were airlifted out of Sudan has not been confirmed.
Biden confirmed the embassy in Khartoum is now closed: “We are temporarily suspending operations at the US embassy in Sudan.”
He also thanked Djibouti, Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia, saying they had been “critical to the success of our operation”.
The president praised the embassy staff’s “courage and professionalism” and “the unmatched skill of our service members who successfully brought them to safety”.
It is the second evacuation of foreign citizens since violence erupted in Sudan’s capital last week.
With the airport closed and skies unsafe, thousands of foreigners – including embassy staff, aid workers and students in Khartoum and elsewhere in Africa’s third largest country – have also been unable to get out.
One foreign diplomat who asked not to be identified said some diplomatic staff in Khartoum were hoping for evacuation by air from Port Sudan in the next two days.
Also Read: Sudan Fighting: Battles Dash Hopes Of Ceasefire
The U.S. Embassy warned Americans that it could not assist convoys from Khartoum to Port Sudan and travel would be at individuals’ own risk.
Saudi Arabia has evacuated Gulf citizens from Port Sudan on the Red Sea, 650 km (400 miles) from Khartoum. Jordan will use the same route for its nationals.
Western countries are expected to send planes for their citizens from Djibouti, though the Sudanese army has said airports in Khartoum and Darfur’s biggest city Nyala are problematic and it was not clear when that might be possible.
The army, under Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF), headed by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, have so far failed to observe ceasefires agreed almost daily since hostilities broke out on April 15.
Saturday’s fighting breached what was meant to be a three-day truce from Friday to allow citizens to reach safety and visit family during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr. Both sides accused the other of not respecting the truce.
“I don’t have a problem with the ceasefire,” Hemedti told Al Arabiya TV late on Saturday.
“They (the army) did not respect it. If they respect it, so will we.”
Zainab Sa’id
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