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The White House on Monday said American citizens have begun arriving in Port Sudan, after the US enabled their evacuation from the Sudanese capital Khartoum.
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the US has placed intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets over a land evacuation route to enable American citizens to travel from Khartoum to the eastern city of Port Sudan on the Red Sea.
“We have started to see a more regular pattern of convoys begin to arrive, including convoys that have Americans in them,” Mr Sullivan said.
“Once at the port, then we are using diplomatic facilities in neighbouring countries to help those Americans with their onward travel so that they can get safely out of the country.”
About 16,000 US citizens are believed to be living in Sudan, though that figure may be an undercount.
Also on Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken defended his decision to pull all diplomatic staff from Sudan as the country spirals further into war.
“The decision to suspend operations at the embassy and remove our personnel from their signposts is among the most difficult that any secretary has to make,” said Mr Blinken.
“But my first priority is the safety of our people.”
He said the situation in Khartoum, which has seen more than a week of fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, had become an “unacceptable risk” to staff there.
Still, he added that the US is “exploring options to return a diplomatic and consular presence to Sudan as soon as possible”.
The US flew embassy staff and their families out at the weekend.
The road journey from the embattled capital to Port Sudan spans 800 kilometres in intense heat and takes about 35 hours.
Other foreign governments have made similar moves, amid intensified fighting between Sudan’s two rival generals who are battling for control of the country.
Earlier, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that the violence in Sudan “risks a catastrophic conflagration … that could engulf the whole region and beyond”.
Mr Sullivan said that “it is not standard practice” for the US to extract citizens from areas of conflict. He named Syria, Libya and Yemen as examples.
He said Afghanistan was “a unique case” because it involved “the end of the 20-year war that the United States was centrally involved in”.
But Mr Sullivan said that the administration of President Joe Biden is looking at “every conceivable option” to help Americans leave Sudan.
Sudan crisis latest — in pictures
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A member of the Saudi Navy carries a child from a ship at Jeddah's port during the kingdom's evacuation of civilians from Sudan. Reuters -
Indian nationals evacuated from Sudan arrive at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. EPA -
Sudanese refugees queue to receive aid from the World Food Programme near the border between Sudan and Chad in Adre, Chad. Reuters -
Tunisian citizens evacuated from Sudan leave a military aircraft upon their arrival at Tunis-Carthage International Airport. AFP -
Indians evacuated from Sudan arrive on a flight at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, India. AP Photo -
Moroccan nationals, who have been evacuated from Sudan, arrive at Mohammed V airport in Casablanca, Morocco. EPA -
A boat with 1,687 civilians from more than 50 countries fleeing violence in Sudan, arrives at King Faisal naval base in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. AFP -
RSF fighters in the East Nile district of greater Khartoum. AFP -
Passengers disembark a plane from Djibouti at Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport near Paris after being evacuated from Sudan. AFP -
Buildings destroyed in recent fighting in Khartoum, Sudan. AP -
Passengers fleeing the fighting in Sudan arrive at Wadi Karkar bus station in Aswan, Egypt. EPA -
Ali Mazloum, a Lebanese citizen who was evacuated from Sudan, is welcomed upon his arrival at Beirut airport. Reuters -
A woman helps another after fleeing clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum. Reuters -
Soldiers attend to Greek citizens evacuated from Sudan as they disembark from a military aircraft in Attica, Greece. EPA -
People carry hibiscus juice and cold water for those being evacuated from Khartoum to Port Sudan. Reuters -
Thais wait to be evacuated by boat at a port in Sudan. EPA -
Greek citizens arrive from Sudan on a military plane in Elefsina, south of Athens. AFP -
Japan's senior Vice Foreign Minister Shunsuke Takei welcomes his country's citizens in Djibouti after they were rescued from Sudan. AFP -
A member of the Saudi Royal Navy carries a child who was rescued from Sudan, in Jeddah. Reuters -
A military plane carrying evacuees arrives at Ciampino Airport near Rome, Italy. Reuters -
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani greets the country's ambassador to Sudan, Michele Tommasi, as he arrives at Ciampino Airport. Reuters -
South Korea's ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Park Joon-yong, at a Saudi Air Force base in Jeddah, where he met diplomats from his country evacuated from Sudan by the kingdom's air force. Reuters -
Having fled from Sudan, a South Korean nun disembarks from a military plane after landing at King Abdullah Air Base in Jeddah. AFP -
People gather as they seek to escape the violence in Khartoum. Reuters -
Spanish diplomatic personnel and citizens wait to disembark from a military plane after being evacuated from Sudan, in Djibouti. Reuters -
A closed pharmacy and shops in the south of Khartoum as battles rage in the capital between the army and paramilitaries. AFP -
Passengers from Sudan disembark from a Spanish Air Force plane at Torrejon Airbase in Madrid. AP -
People evacuated from Sudan arrive at a military airport in Amman. AFP -
Jordan was among those countries to have rapidly flown its citizens in Sudan to safety. AFP -
This child was one of those to have arrived safely in Amman. AFP -
A building in Khartoum burns as violence rages in Sudan. EPA -
Italian citizens are flown out of the Sudanese capital on a military aircraft. Reuters -
The fighting has caused heavy damage to parts of Khartoum. EPA -
Indonesian citizens travel on a bus during an evacuation operation in Khartoum. EPA -
A Spanish military aircraft takes off from Khartoum as European countries rescue citizens from Sudan. Reuters -
Jordanians arrive at a military airport in Amman after their evacuation from Sudan to escape the fighting. AP -
French troops arrive at an air base in Djibouti to prepare to evacuate about 100 people from Sudan. AFP -
Smoke rises from buildings during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese army in Khartoum. Reuters -
Saudis are met by Saudi Royal Navy staff as they arrive at Jeddah on the Red Sea after being evacuated from Sudan. Reuters -
The streets of southern Khartoum bear the scars of fighting between two factions of the Sudanese military. AFP -
A convoy leaves Khartoum for Port Sudan as fighting between military factions in the Sudanese capital continues. AFP -
A civilian convoy leaving Khartoum for Port Sudan. AFP -
Saudi citizens and people of other nations are evacuated by the Saudi Royal Navy from Port Sudan to escape the conflict. Reuters -
A photo from October 2017 of the US embassy in Khartoum. AFP -
Saudi citizens are met by Saudi Royal Navy staff as they arrive at Jeddah after being evacuated from Sudan. Reuters -
Smoke hangs over Khartoum as factions belonging to the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces go back to trading gunfire after a ceasefire failed. AP
