New Delhi: The US Department of State has “temporarily” suspended operations at its Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, and safely evacuated all US personnel and their dependents “under our security responsibility”, said Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a statement, as a fight between factions of the northeast African country’s armed forces entered its second week.
Calling it a “difficult decision”, Blinken said, “I directed this temporary action due to the serious and growing security risks created by the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces. The widespread fighting has caused significant numbers of civilian deaths and injuries and damage to essential infrastructure and posed an unacceptable risk to our Embassy personnel.”
US President Joe Biden also announced that the embassy staff and their families have been evacuated, many Americans continue to be stuck in Sudan.
“Today, on my orders, the United States military conducted an operation to extract U.S. Government personnel from Khartoum. I am proud of the extraordinary commitment of our Embassy staff, who performed their duties with courage and professionalism and embodied America’s friendship and connection with the people of Sudan,” said Joe Biden in a statement. He added, “I thank Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Saudi Arabia, which were critical to the success of our operation.”
According to reports, till Saturday, over 400 people have been killed and more than 3,500 injured in the violence that started on 15 April.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had Friday said, “It is not our standard procedure to evacuate American citizens living abroad.”
The Biden administration had also said that it has no plans for a government-coordinated evacuation 16,000 private US citizens stuck in Sudan.
Talking about other Americans stuck in Sudan, Biden said that he is receiving regular reports from his team on their ongoing work to assist Americans in Sudan, “to the extent possible”.
Meanwhile, Blinken in the statement had said, “We will continue to assist Americans in Sudan in planning for their own safety and provide regular updates to U.S. citizens in the area.”
Blinken and Biden urged both sides to implement a ceasefire, allow humanitarian access and stop the violence in Sudan. “We are temporarily suspending operations at the U.S. Embassy in Sudan, but our commitment to the Sudanese people and the future they want for themselves is unending”, added Biden.
(Edited by Anumeha Saxena)
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