American forces evacuated their embassy officials from the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, on Saturday, as countries moved to expel their citizens after a week of fighting.
Late Saturday night, the White House said it had temporarily suspended operations at its embassy in Sudan and conducted an operation to remove US government employees from Khartoum.
“This tragic violence in Sudan has already claimed the lives of hundreds of innocent civilians,” said US President Joe Biden. “It is unreasonable and it must stop.” Nearly 100 Special Forces personnel took part in the mission, according to US officials, which led to the evacuation of nearly 100 embassy staff.
The resolution highlights the deterioration in security in Sudan since the outbreak of heavy fighting last weekend between the country’s armed forces and a powerful paramilitary group.
Sudan is witnessing a struggle for power between the army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hamidti, the Sudanese vice president and commander of the Rapid Support Forces.
The US State Department has refuted claims by the RSF that it assisted in the evacuation. “This operation was carried out by the Ministry of Defense and only by the Ministry of Defense,” an official said.
Earlier, the Sudanese army said that Saudi diplomats had been evacuated, and that the United Kingdom, France and China were also expected to send military aircraft to Khartoum to evacuate their diplomats in the “coming hours”.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry said the kingdom had repatriated 157 people, including 91 Saudis and nationals of other countries. State television showed footage of a navy ship arriving in the port city of Jeddah with evacuees.
Foreign governments raced against time to evacuate their citizens. The clashes paralyzed Khartoum airport, where several civilian aircraft were destroyed.
A French official refused to confirm Sudanese allegations that the evacuations of French diplomats would begin soon. British officials warned that an evacuation could be expected “in the coming hours”, but did not rule out the possibility of the diplomats being moved over the weekend.
Rishi Sunak, the UK’s prime minister, chaired an emergency meeting on Saturday morning with ministers including Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, reflecting concerns in London about the situation in Sudan.
More than 400 people were killed in the fighting, including at least four United Nations aid workers, and more than 3,500 wounded. The US State Department confirmed the death of an American citizen in the fighting, but did not provide further details.
Three employees of the World Food Program and one from the International Organization for Migration were also killed, a US diplomatic convoy was attacked and the Norwegian diplomatic headquarters was hit by a missile. Other diplomatic delegations were also attacked.
Additional reporting by Colby Smith