US Navy Ship Conducts Evacuation Of Americans From Port Sudan

Hundreds of Americans fleeing a two-week-long, deadly violence in Sudan arrived at the port on Saturday in the first US-led evacuation after a perilous land journey and under the protection of armed drones.

According to US sources, armed overwatch was supplied for a bus convoy conveying 200 to 300 Americans over 800 miles to Port Sudan, an area of relative safety, by US unmanned planes that had been watching overland evacuation routes for days.

Families of Americans held hostage in Sudan have criticised the US for initially denying any US-led evacuation for Americans who wanted to leave, claiming that it would be too unsafe. There were no US authorities present for the evacuation.

American embassy employees and other government workers were evacuated from Khartoum by US special operations forces on April 22.

Few US citizens remained, many of whom were dual citizens. With the aid of military planes, naval ships, and ground troops, more than a dozen other nations had already begun evacuating their nationals.

Tens of thousands of Sudanese have fled to safer areas due to the numerous precarious temporary cease-fires that a diverse group of international mediators, including African and Arab countries, the United Nations, and the United States, have only been able to achieve, and thousands of foreigners have been evacuated via land, air, and sea.

US authorities have cautioned their people to leave the country on their own since the fight between the two opposing generals began on April 15, despite their efforts to link Americans with other countries’ evacuation operations.

Things started to shift, though, when US authorities apparently used a brief respite in the battle to prepare their own convoy for Americans remotely.

Many Americans have been forced to travel the hazardous overland route from Khartoum to the country’s main Red Sea port, Port Sudan, without the evacuation planes near the capital that other countries have been providing for their citizens.

One family of Sudanese Americans who had visited earlier recalled driving through several checkpoints guarded by armed men, as well as seeing the vehicles and dead bodies of other fleeing families who had been killed along the path, as well as bodies lying on the street.

Reference: Outlook India, Mint