US evacuates citizens from Sudan amid ongoing conflict

The United States military evacuated US Embassy personnel from Sudan on Sunday, more than a week after fighting broke out between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary.

"Today, on my orders, the United States military conducted an operation to extract US Government personnel from Khartoum," President Joe Biden said.

He thanked authorities in Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Saudi Arabia for their assistance in the evacuation mission.

Earlier, the RSF claimed it had "coordinated with the US Forces Mission consisting of six aircraft, for evacuating diplomats and their families on Sunday morning."

The operation evacuated fewer than 100 people, US officials told reporters.

About 100 US troops in three MH-47 helicopters carried out the operation.

US Embassy operations suspended

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, "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."

Biden confirmed that the evacuation of diplomatic staff meant US Embassy in Khartoum would suspend operations.

"But our commitment to the Sudanese people and the future they want for themselves is unending," he added.

Around 16,000 US citizens were registered with the embassy, but officials said this number is likely inaccurate as US citizens are not required to register their presence in the country, nor are they required to notify the embassy if they leave.

"This tragic violence in Sudan has already cost the lives of hundreds of innocent civilians," Biden said. "It's unconscionable and it must stop."

Other governments evacuating citizens

The US evacuation comes after Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry said on Saturday it had evacuated 91 Saudi citizens from Port Sudan to Jeddah, along with 66 nationals from several other "friendly and brotherly countries."

Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said China, France and the United Kingdom are also set to evacuate their citizens on Sunday.

Spain has deployed several aircraft to the nearby country of Djibouti to facilitate evacuations and Jordan also said it was preparing an evacuation mission with Gulf states.

Fighting broke out in Sudan more than a week ago between the north-eastern African country's two most powerful generals and their respective military units.

At least 413 people have been killed and more than 3,500 have been injured since the fighting began, according to the World Health Organization.