dpa
Washington
A first evacuation convoy organized by the US government from the embattled Sudanese capital Khartoum has reached the city of Port Sudan on the Red Sea, the US State Department announced on Saturday.
Besides US citizens, "locally employed staff” and "nationals from allied and partner countries” had travelled on the convoy to Port Sudan, according to a statement. "From there, we are assisting US citizens and others who are eligible with onward travel to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where additional US personnel are positioned to assist with consular and emergency services,” the department said. US media reported that armed military drones accompanied the convoy.
Sudan’s de facto president Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has been fighting his deputy Mohammed Hamdan Daglo with the help of the military since April 15. Daglo is the influential paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) leader. The two generals took over the country’s leadership of about 46 million through two joint military coups in 2019 and 2021. Hundreds of people have been killed since the fighting began, and thousands are fleeing the country. Governments worldwide have launched evacuation missions to airlift their citizens to safety.
On Saturday, the US Department of State called on both parties "to end the fighting that is endangering civilians.” According to the Pentagon, the US military conducted reconnaissance and surveillance to secure the evacuations. Military ships would also be deployed along the coast in the region if their support was needed, it said. Even before the latest convoy, several hundred US personnel and embassy staff had left Sudan by land, sea or air, a US State Department spokesman said on Friday. The US military evacuated the embassy staff and their families directly from Khartoum last weekend.