The U.S. has extracted its diplomatic staff from Sudan, as security conditions in the country worsened late last week, but the evacuation left thousands of Americans behind.
In a security alert Tuesday, the State Department reiterated that “due to the uncertain security situation in Khartoum and closure of the airport, it is not currently safe to undertake a U.S. government-coordinated evacuation of private U.S. citizens.”
Instead, it advised the estimated 16,000 Americans believed to be in Sudan to remain sheltered in place.
While the U.S. says it’s too dangerous to get its citizens out, other countries are proceeding with evacuations of their nationals including France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Spain, Holland, Turkey, Japan, South Korea, Jordan, South Africa, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
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Over the past week, as violent paramilitary groups have warred in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, various governments have undergone dramatically different responses to try to get their citizens and embassy personnel to safety.
At least two Americans have been killed in Sudan in recent weeks.
The U.S. has come under scrutiny for using elite SEAL commandos to evacuate roughly 70 embassy staff in a helicopter mission over the weekend while telling thousands of private American citizens that no such operation would be carried out for them.
For those interested in fleeing Sudan, the State Department provided information about available border crossings and the requirements needed at each location. It also cautioned that fighting continues and that many routes are dangerous and unpredictable.
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On Saturday, staff at the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum were instructed to suspend operations and leave the country.
“The only way we could do this safely for all of our diplomatic personnel was to rely on the capabilities of our military colleagues,” said Ambassador John Bass, State Department undersecretary for management.
Later that same day, three MH-47 Chinook helicopters carrying elite SEAL commandos took off from Djibouti en route to Ethiopia, where they refueled and made the three-hour flight to Khartoum.
“The operation was fast and clean, with service members spending less than an hour on the ground in Khartoum,” said Lt. Gen D.A. Sims, director of operations at the Joint Staff.
The helicopters flew into Khartoum without taking any fire and safely left the country with the embassy staff members.
The U.S. assistance for Americans remaining in Sudan is largely limited to phone and virtual help.
Germany’s defense ministry said Tuesday that it conducted evacuation flights resulting in getting more than 700 people out of Sudan including 200 Germans and hundreds more from more than 20 other countries.
France evacuated more than 500 people from 41 different countries, it said. The French government said it would keep a Navy frigate at Sudan’s main Red Sea port to continue evacuation operations.
The United Kingdom is using its military to evacuate civilians from an airport outside Khartoum.
Saudi Arabia evacuated about 2,150 people by ship from Sudan, including 114 Saudi citizens and more than 2,000 evacuees from 62 other nations, according to a state-run news service.
Egypt has evacuated more than 1,500 of its citizens from Sudan. Additionally, its government said it would not conduct a diplomatic mission to evacuate embassy staff from Sudan until it ensures the evacuation of all citizens who want to leave.
Warring factions continuing to try and seize control of Sudan have plunged the country into chaos.
The power struggle mostly focuses on two generals and their armies: Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, who leads the Sudanese National Armed Forces, and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of a paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces.
Under international pressure, the two sides have agreed to various ceasefire or truce agreements. But many have been broken, with gunfire erupting through the capital.
The State Department has, for years, advised U.S. citizens not to travel to Sudan.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
