“Several hundred” Americans have fled Sudan during a ceasefire in the country’s ongoing power struggle, which has seen the streets of Khartoum become a war zone, a State Department spokesman said.
The State Department said Friday that “less than 5,000” people had requested information from the department on the conflict, and that “a fraction” of that number has requested assistance leaving the country.
The U.S. embassy in Khartoum was evacuated last weekend by Navy SEALs as the civil conflict in the country continues to heat up. Earlier this week, the U.S. and others negotiated a 72-hour ceasefire in the conflict which was extended for 72 additional hours on Friday.
However, reports of fighting in the country continue despite the ceasefire, including shots at a Turkish military evacuation plane.
“It is clear that there have been multiple violations of the ceasefire,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said. “But implementing ceasefires is often difficult at the start, but the violations of the ceasefire do not mean a failure of the ceasefire. And we are working with partners to ensure better monitoring of activity and engaging both parties to improve adherence.”
An estimated 16,000 Americans were present in the country before the conflict, many of them U.S.-Sudanese dual citizens.
Some U.S. citizens have taken refuge in Saudi Arabia, with the Saudi foreign ministry announcing that some Americans were among the nearly 1900 people evacuated to the country on Saturday.
The Department of Defense (DOD) announced Saturday that it approved a request for assistance from the State Department to support the safe departure of U.S. citizens and immediate family members, which they are acting on.
“The Department of Defense deployed U.S. intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets to support air and land evacuation routes, which Americans are using, and we are moving naval assets within the region to provide any necessary support along the coast,” Sabrina Singh, deputy Pentagon press secretary, said in the Saturday statement.
The fighting in Sudan stems from a power struggle between two generals, once-allies in the country’s 2021 coup. Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan leads the de-facto government while his former deputy, Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, has taken up arms against him.
The conflict is believed to have started over a disagreement on how to run the new, post-coup government. Hundreds have been killed in the fighting so far, including at least 400 civilians.
Over 50,000 refugees, many of them women and children, have crossed into neighboring Chad, Egypt, South Sudan and the Central African Republic, according to the United Nations.
Patel said that Americans in Sudan are encouraged to reach out to the State Department for assistance.
“We cannot guarantee travelers’ safety, nor can we guarantee how long these departure options will be available,” he said.
— Updated 1:18 p.m.