Sudan: US prepares plans for possible embassy evacuation

WASHINGTON — As the fighting intensifies in Sudan, the US military is readying forces in Djibouti as it prepares contingency plans to potentially evacuate US Embassy personnel from Khartoum, Al-Monitor has learned.

American diplomats are sheltering in place as the death toll mounts from six days of fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). 

Pentagon spokesperson Lt. Col. Phil Ventura said Thursday that the US military is monitoring the situation and “conducting prudent planning for various contingencies.” 

“As part of this, we are deploying additional capabilities nearby in the region for contingency purposes related to securing and potentially facilitating the departure of US Embassy personnel from Sudan, if circumstances require it,” Ventura said in a statement. 

Ventura declined to comment on the location of the US deployments. "As a matter of policy and security, we do not speculate on potential future operations,” he added. 

The US Navy maintains a permanent base at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti at the mouth of the Red Sea. The deployment of American forces to Djibouti in preparation for a potential evacuation from Sudan was first reported by Politico.

The clashes that erupted Saturday in Sudan have killed more than 330 people and injured 3,200 in and around Khartoum, according to the World Health Organization, although the actual number of casualties is likely much higher. 

State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said Thursday it is “currently unsafe” to mount a US government-coordinated evacuation operation from Sudan, noting that both the main airport in Khartoum and the Sudanese border with Chad are closed.

An evacuation of US personnel by ground or air "would be a substantial undertaking," said Michael Mulroy, the Pentagon's former top policy official for the Middle East.

"The airport is currently non-operational and a ground evacuation could be up to a 12-hour movement in an unstable area to get to a departure point at the Port of Sudan," Mulroy said. 

Patel added that the Biden administration has “full accountability” for US diplomatic personnel in Khartoum and that the State Department has been in touch with private US citizens in Sudan to offer assessments of security measures and precautions. 

The State Department has established a special Sudan task force as well as a separate consular task force in Washington to relay information to US citizens in Sudan, according to a spokesperson.

Concerns for the safety of American diplomats grew after a US diplomatic convoy came under fire in Khartoum on Monday in an attack that Secretary of State Antony Blinken attributed to forces affiliated with the RSF. 

“The incident is still being reviewed to understand exactly what happened,” a State Department spokesperson told Al-Monitor, adding that all US diplomats traveling in the convoy are safe and unharmed. 

In separate calls with Burhan and Hemedti on Monday, Blinken made clear that such attacks on US diplomats were “totally unacceptable,” the spokesperson said. “We expect Sudanese authorities to uphold their responsibilities with respect to diplomatic personnel and facilities.”  

Blinken has also urged the two generals to extend through April 23 a shaky cease-fire that was reached between the warring sides late Wednesday, Patel said. The cease-fire — the warring sides' second attempt — expired Thursday evening with no agreement to extend it, The Associated Press reports. 

On Thursday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a three-day cease-fire to coincide with the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which begins Friday, that would allow trapped residents to flee the densely populated capital, where food and water supplies are dwindling. 

The outbreak of violence in Sudan’s capital followed talks between the rival generals over plans to integrate Hemedti’s RSF into the Sudanese military under single command following a framework agreement reached in December.

The talks also covered plans to hold elections for civilian leadership of the government after Burhan seized power in a coup in October 2021, ousting Sudan’s transitional government. Burhan had initially promised to hold elections by July 2023 after seizing power.

Burhan and Hemedti were among the military leaders who ousted Sudan’s longtime dictator, Omar al-Bashir, amid a widespread pro-democracy uprising in 2019.

The RSF is estimated to include around 100,000 fighters but does not possess the airpower controlled by the larger Sudanese Armed Forces.