U.S. evacuating diplomats in Sudan amid fierce fighting
MAHEEN S VIA AP
In this photo provided by Maheen S, smoke fills the sky in Khartoum, Sudan, near Doha International Hospital on Friday, April 21. The Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday, typically filled with prayer, celebration and feasting — was a somber one in Sudan, as gunshots rang out across the capital of Khartoum and heavy smoke billowed over the skyline.
WASHINGTON >> U.S. troops are carrying out a precarious evacuation of American embassy staffers in the African nation of Sudan, shuttering the U.S. embassy there as fighting rages for a ninth day, according to a senior Biden administration official.
Biden ordered American troops to evacuate embassy personnel after receiving a recommendation earlier Saturday from his national security team with no end in sight to the fighting, according to the official who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the mission.
The evacuation order was believed to apply to about 70 Americans. U.S. forces were airliftng them from a landing zone at the embassy to an unspecified location.
The State Department has suspended operations at the embassy due to the dire security situation. It was not clear when the embassy might resume functioning.
