US Personnel Evacuated from Sudan Returning to Washington
Meanwhile, a senior Pentagon official said the United States is looking for options to help other Americans who wish to leave the embattled central African country.
"One of those ways is to potentially make the overland routes out of Sudan potentially more viable," said Chris Maier, the assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict, during a phone briefing late Saturday. “DOD is at present considering actions that may include: use of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities to be able to observe routes and detect threats,” he added.
Washington does not plan to coordinate a large-scale evacuation of private U.S. citizens in Sudan due to volatile security situations and closure of Khartoum's main airport. There are believed to be about 16,000 Americans in Sudan, many of them dual nationals and aid workers.
The U.S. Agency for International Development has deployed a team of disaster response experts for Sudan. The team will operate out of Kenya amid deadly fighting in Sudan between rival factions -- the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group.
“We are in communication with U.S. citizens requesting assistance departing Sudan, and their families in the United States. This is an unfolding situation, and we cannot provide more details for security reasons,” a State Department spokesperson told VOA.
The State Department declines to say how many private U.S. citizens may intend to leave Sudan.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said the State Department will continue to assist Americans in Sudan in planning for their safety.
Over the weekend, U.S. special operations forces evacuated all American diplomats and their families from the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, using helicopters that flew from a base in Djibouti and refueled in Ethiopia. They were not fired on during the evacuation.
Several diplomats from other countries were also evacuated in the operations.
The White House said U.S. military forces will remain deployed in Djibouti to protect U.S. personnel and others until the security situation in Sudan no longer requires their presence. It said additional forces are prepared to deploy to the region if needed.
On Monday, Blinken holds meetings with Kenya’s top diplomat, Alfred Mutua, with Sudan seen as high on the agenda.
Washington is also in close contact with Sudan’s military and civilian leaders to see if an Eid-al-Fitr cease-fire, which reduced but did not stop the clashes, can be extended to facilitate humanitarian arrangements. Eid-al-Fitr marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
More than 420 people have been killed and more than 3,500 injured in Sudan.
Two-thirds of the hospitals have closed since fighting erupted more than a week ago.
The World Health Organization has urged the warring military factions to halt fighting to allow a humanitarian corridor for health workers, patients, and ambulances.
There needs to have “pathways” so civilians “can get to safer parts of the country,” Rebecca Hamilton, a law professor at American University and a former lawyer for the International Criminal Court, told VOA.
VOA's Vero Balderas Iglesias contributed to this story.