The U.S. Embassy in Sudan has advised United States citizens to leave the country on commercial vessels.
U.S. special operations troops had briefly flown to Khartoum, the capital, to evacuate diplomats, embassy staffers and other government personnel on April 22—a week after battles between two rival Sudanese commanders erupted.
More than 500 people have been killed since fighting broke out between forces loyal to Army Chief General Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman, and General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
On Saturday, hundreds of Americans reached Port Sudan in the first U.S.-run evacuation of private American citizens after completing a dangerous land journey escorted by armed drones. U.S. officials said the drones provided watch for a bus convoy carrying 200 to 300 Americans as they made the 500-mile journey to the port, the Associated Press reported.
From there, officials said Americans were assisted with onward travel across the Red Sea to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
It came after the U.S. faced criticism from the families of Americans trapped in Sudan for initially ruling out an evacuation of Americans, saying it was too dangerous. Thousands of U.S. citizens had been left behind, many of them dual-nationals, while many other nations were carrying out evacuations for their citizens.
In a statement posted on its website and Twitter on Monday, the U.S. embassy in Khartoum said it would inform U.S. citizens of any plans for additional government-organized convoys from Khartoum to Port Sudan.
"However, there may be space available on commercial vessels traveling from Port Sudan to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia," the statement said. "For those who are able to depart Port Sudan via ferry, U.S. consular officers stand ready to provide consular assistance to U.S. citizens upon arrival in Jeddah."
The statement added: "We remain dedicated to assisting U.S. citizens remaining in Sudan."
In a statement on Saturday, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the government "has taken extensive efforts to contact U.S. citizens in Sudan and enable the departure of those who wished to leave."
Miller said: "We messaged every U.S. citizen in Sudan who communicated with us during the crisis and provided specific instructions about joining this convoy to those who were interested in departing via the land route. We encourage U.S. citizens who want to leave Sudan but chose not to participate in this convoy to contact the Department of State using the crisis intake form on our website."
Newsweek reached out to the State Department via email for further comment.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Khaleda Rahman is Newsweek's Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on abortion rights, race, education, ... Read more
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
