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(CNN) US Secretary of State Antony Brinken said on Monday that “dozens” of Americans were interested in leaving Sudan.
Many countries have evacuated their own citizens, but U.S. officials have repeatedly said they have no plans to evacuate Americans out of the country, citing the situation on the ground.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on CNN’s “This Morning” program Monday that the situation in Sudan was “not conducive to attempting any kind of large-scale military withdrawal against American citizens. It’s not safe,” he said.
A top US diplomat said he didn’t know the exact number of Americans in Sudan “because Americans don’t have to register with the US State Department.”
“Of course, we know how many Americans have registered with us, and we are in very active contact with them, of which dozens have expressed an interest in leaving,” Blinken said at a press conference. I think,” said a meeting at the State Department.
All US government employees were evacuated from Khartoum by the US military operation, and the US embassy was closed after a week of heavy fighting between rival military factions – the Sudan Army (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces. Later, this weekend, it was “temporarily” closed. Or RSF — left hundreds dead and thousands wounded.
In the days leading up to that evacuation, officials in Washington and the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum will carry out a government-coordinated evacuation of American citizens due to the lack of operational airports and continued fighting on the ground. He repeatedly stressed that he had never imagined that.
Still, there are concerns about how to get Americans who want to leave Sudan safely, especially now that the US has no diplomatic presence in Sudan.US State Department warns US citizens to avoid traveling to Sudan But some Americans with loved ones in Sudan suggested the government had not sufficiently advised Americans already in Sudan to leave.
Given the continued violence and impact on critical resources such as food, water and medical care, there are great concerns about the safety of those still inside the country, regardless of nationality. Internet connections are also unreliable, leaving family and friends outside Sudan worried about whether their loved ones are safe.
The U.S. government generally does not facilitate the evacuation of civilians. The US withdrawal from Afghanistan marked a rare and chaotic exception to that norm. “Kabul casts a very long shadow over Khartoum,” said one former official, although the Biden administration has sought to avoid comparisons to that event.
“Awful holding pattern”
Rebecca Winter, who has her sister and 18-month-old niece in Sudan, told CNN that her sister “both the US embassy and the international school told me she was working, so they ‘ It’s a terrible hug pattern,” he said. She must take shelter in place and she should not accept private offers of refuge. ”
“So she’s just waiting in dread right now,” she said.
The State Department warned Americans not to travel to Sudan, but Winter said, according to her sister, “the American employees there were not asked to leave the country.”
Fatima Elsheikh, whose two brothers are in Sudan, also disputed claims that US citizens already on the ground were warned before the violence erupted.
“I am upset because there was no warning. are you there?” she said.
Prior to the outbreak of violence, the State Department’s travel advisory for Sudan did not specifically tell Americans already in the country to leave, but it did “develop an evacuation plan that does not rely on U.S. government assistance” and ” Develop a personal emergency action plan.” It does not rely on US government assistance. ”
Blinken said on Monday that the United States continues to communicate with American citizens on the ground to provide “consular services, other services and advice.”
“Just 36 hours after the evacuation of the embassy was completed, we are in close contact with U.S. citizens and individuals associated with the U.S. government to provide assistance and access to those seeking to travel safely by land. We have facilitated possible departure routes, air and sea,” said Blinken, noting that it included American citizens “traveling overland in United Nations convoys from Khartoum to Port Sudan.”
“We are looking at how we can help them keep themselves safe,” he said.
“This will be an ongoing process,” he added. Brinken said the US was considering resuming its diplomatic presence in Sudan, including Port Sudan, but “it would depend entirely on the situation in Sudan.”
Kirby said Monday that violence in Sudan is “increasing” and urged Americans remaining in the country to evacuate.
“It is more dangerous today than yesterday and the day before. Therefore, the best advice that can be given to Americans who did not heed the warning not to leave Sudan and not to travel to Sudan is to take refuge in that place. Kirby told CNN’s Don Lemon.
“We are trying to guide mobile people to land a moving convoy. In fact, dozens of Americans we know are moving aboard a UN-led convoy. We’re going overland to Port Sudan,” he said.
“Some of the convoys that tried to drive people out of Khartoum ran into problems such as robbery and looting,” Brinken said, but did not specify whether those convoys were carrying U.S. citizens. I didn’t.
Kirby said the U.S. is focused on providing unmanned aerial assets to land convoys to provide “some kind of situational awareness and surveillance” for civilians en route to port, while the military will naval assets are stationed in the Red Sea for
Officials told congressional officials last week that there may be an estimated 16,000 American citizens in Sudan, most of them dual citizens.
Both Brinken and Kirby agreed to this on Monday, suggesting that many of those dual citizens “don’t want to leave” the country.
“We believe that the majority of these American citizens in Sudan are dual citizens, not all in Khartoum. People who have. I don’t want to leave,” he said.
CNN’s Michael Conte and Kylie Atwood contributed to this report.
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