Jenny Asemota
US officials cited ongoing fighting and gunfire in Khartoum and surrounding areas.
There have also been reports of assaults, home invasions, and looting, the embassy said. US citizens are strongly advised to remain indoors, shelter in place until further notice, and avoid travel to the US Embassy.
The airport in Khartoum is currently closed, and the embassy has distanced itself from any efforts to get people out of the country by traveling over the 500mile land route to Port Sudan on the Red Sea. It is not currently safe to undertake a US governmentcoordinated evacuation of private US citizens, the notice said. There is incomplete information about significant convoys departing Khartoum traveling toward Port Sudan.
The American Embassy in Sudan has issued a security alert advising the approximately 16,000 US citizens in the country to shelter in place because its not currently safe to undertake an evacuation effort amid fierce fighting between government forces and militants in Khartoum.
The violence is so fierce that the embassy itself remains under a shelterinplace order and cant provide consular services, according to an alert issued on Saturday.
More than 60 of the evacuees were from other countries, including Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan and Canada.
READ MORE Pentagon preparing armed mission in Sudan
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak held a meeting of his governments emergency response committee, including Defence Minister Ben Wallace, to discuss a number of contingencies. The British Foreign Office advised on Saturday that in the event of a ceasefire, any decision to move must be taken at individual risk.
The US handling of the Sudan situation is getting added scrutiny because of the governments chaotic August 2021 evacuation from Afghanistan, which left hundreds of people dead and thousands of Americans stranded.
READ MORE Civilians running out of essential supplies in Khartoum aid worker
US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul sent a letter to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Friday, expressing grave concerns for the safety of all US citizens in Sudan and urging the State Department to not repeat the mistakes of the Afghanistan evacuation.
Today, CHM RepMcCaul sent a letter to SecBlinken expressing grave concerns for the safety of all US citizens in Sudan amp urging the StateDept to not repeat the mistakes of the Afghanistan evacuation.
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