Al-Arabiya sources in Sudan said the United States evacuated its citizens from the American embassy in the Soba suburb south of Khartoum by planes that landed at the embassy building in Khartoum.
While Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo, “Hamidti”, reported that 6 American planes are involved in the evacuation of American diplomats and their families.
The Sudan Commander of the Rapid Support Forces added that he had a frank conversation with the AFRICOM commander about the crisis in Sudan.
This was reported to CBS by well-informed sources in the US. news The US government has said US government employees in Sudan will be evacuated. The sources added that the plan was to evacuate about 70 US citizens working for the US government in Sudan during the week.
The Sudanese military said on Saturday it expects countries, including the US, to begin evacuations “in the coming hours.”
Sources familiar with the US plans told CBS News that the American evacuation from Khartoum would include about 70 US troops, but the evacuation would not include hundreds of US citizens in Sudan.
The State Department acknowledges that some records show 16,000 US citizens in Sudan, but officials believe these numbers are exaggerated.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Friday that operations were still ongoing to bring U.S. government employees to the relative safety of the embassy at the time and that U.S. civilians would be responsible for their own safety and leaving the country.
Kirby acknowledged that the movement of personnel was part of the preparations for the evacuation, adding, “We want to be prepared for this turn of events,” but warned that “the situation in Khartoum is very dangerous as the fighting continues.”
On Monday, a US diplomatic convoy flying an American flag was fired upon as security forces tried to bring the Americans back to the embassy.
Secretary Blinken called it a “reckless” and “irresponsible” act and said forces associated with the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, had probably opened fire.
The US State Department said that despite the call for a ceasefire, the shooting continued as a US citizen died in Sudan on Thursday.
And as of Saturday afternoon, no decisions had been announced on whether the State Department would close the US embassy or what would happen to the dozens of non-US local staff working there.
All week, the Biden administration worked to round up American personnel in Khartoum and move them to the diplomatic compound in the capital. And US sources acknowledged the transfer of special forces to Djibouti in preparation for a possible evacuation.
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