US evacuates American diplomatic personnel from Sudan

The evacuation was conducted by a group of approximately 100 special operations forces led by US Africa Command and in coordination with the State Department.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also released a statement confirming that all US personnel and their families had been safely evacuated, and operations at the US Embassy in Khartoum were temporarily suspended.

“The U.S. Department of State has temporarily suspended operations at our Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan and safely evacuated all U.S. personnel and their dependents under our security responsibility.  Suspending operations at one of our embassies is always a difficult decision, but the safety of our personnel is my first responsibility,” Blinken said.

“I directed this temporary action due to the serious and growing security risks created by the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces.  The widespread fighting has caused significant numbers of civilian deaths and injuries and damage to essential infrastructure and posed an unacceptable risk to our Embassy personnel,” he added.

The decision to evacuate American personnel came after a week of intense fighting between rival military factions in Sudan, resulting in hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries. The fighting was between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). (ILKHA)