USA: After more than a week of advising them to shelter in place due to fighting between warring factions vying for control of the East African country, President Joe Biden's administration has started its first mass evacuations of US citizens from Sudan.
According to a statement released by the State Department in Washington, a convoy of vehicles organised by the US and carrying Americans, employees hired locally, and citizens of allies countries successfully arrived in Port Sudan on Saturday.
From there, they will be able to travel to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, by crossing the Red Sea. The action was taken a week after American embassy staff members were evacuated from Khartoum by US Navy Seals, and days after other countries started evacuating their citizens from the war-torn nation.
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The number of the approximately 16,000 US civilians living in Sudan who were transported out on Saturday was not made clear by the State Department. According to media reports, the group consisted of "hundreds." After successfully evacuating thousands of their citizens from the Sudan in recent days, other nations like Saudi Arabia, Spain, the UK, Germany, and France are reportedly winding down their evacuation efforts.
The White House has issued a warning that Sudan is running out of time as fighting between the military of the nation and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces could flare up at any moment.
On Thursday, Karine Jean-Pierre, the press secretary for the White House, advised reporters 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."
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In order to support evacuation routes, US military forces have deployed surveillance and intelligence assets, and US Navy ships are currently stationed off Sudan's coast to offer any required assistance.
Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said in a statement on Saturday that helping as many US citizens leave as safely as possible has been and will continue to be the Pentagon's main priority.
Large-scale civilian evacuations were previously denied as being feasible by the Biden administration, despite other nations carrying them out. The State Department claimed to have assisted in recent days in the evacuation of some Americans by allied nations.
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Following its chaotic August 2021 evacuation from Afghanistan, which left hundreds of people dead and thousands of Americans stranded, the administration's handling of such crises has come under increased scrutiny.