US suspends operations in Sudan amid ongoing violence
President Joe Biden had ordered the military to evacuate government personnel.
LEARN MOREPosted: 5:11 p.m. EDT Apr 24, 2023
The United States is deploying more resources to help its citizens leave Sudan by land, the U.S. State Department said Monday.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the U.S. has put intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets along evacuation routes to help ensure security. He said the government is processing arrivals through the Port of Sudan to diplomatic facilities in adjacent countries.
On Monday afternoon Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the conflicting Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces had agreed to a nationwide cease-fire, set to last three days.
"To support a durable end to the fighting, the United States will coordinate with regional and international partners, and Sudanese civilian stakeholders, to assist in the creation of a committee to oversee the negotiation, conclusion, and implementation of a permanent cessation of hostilities and humanitarian arrangements in Sudan," Blinken said in a statement.
Military aircraft evacuated U.S. embassy staff on Sunday, but State Department officials repeated that there are no plans to send U.S. troops to assist with wider evacuations.
The embassy is now closed indefinitely, with local staff acting as caretakers.
Records show some 16,000 private U.S. citizens in Sudan, but exact numbers are hard to come by because not all citizens register their movements.
Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said there are two U.S. Navy vessels in waters near Sudan, which could be made available to transport citizens or provide medical support.
On Sunday, President Biden wrote a letter to Congress notifying them that "United States Armed Forces personnel will remain deployed in Djibouti" until further notice and that additional forces are "prepared to deploy to the region if required."
Samantha Power, the head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, announced on Sunday that a team of disaster response experts has been sent to Sudan to coordinate the humanitarian response in the region amid the ongoing conflicts.
