US Ready to Evacuate Embassy in Khartoum if Necessary

People gather at the station to flee from Khartoum during clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum, Sudan April 19, 2023. REUTERS/El-Tayeb Siddig
People gather at the station to flee from Khartoum during clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum, Sudan April 19, 2023. REUTERS/El-Tayeb Siddig
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US Ready to Evacuate Embassy in Khartoum if Necessary

People gather at the station to flee from Khartoum during clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum, Sudan April 19, 2023. REUTERS/El-Tayeb Siddig
People gather at the station to flee from Khartoum during clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum, Sudan April 19, 2023. REUTERS/El-Tayeb Siddig

The US is preparing to send a large number of additional troops to its base in Djibouti in case of an eventual evacuation from Sudan, US officials said on Thursday.

“The US Africa Command is monitoring the situation in Sudan and conducting prudent planning for various contingencies,” said Lt. Col. Phil Ventura, a Defense Department spokesman.

“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,” said Ventura.

Wendy Sherman, the deputy secretary of State, privately told lawmakers Wednesday that troops would be moving to Djibouti, home to Camp Lemmonier, to provide the administration an option to launch an evacuation operation, according to one of the people familiar with the situation.

She made clear that they are not about to evacuate American citizens.

Meanwhile, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Molly Phee said Wednesday the situation on the ground in Sudan remained too volatile to get diplomatic staff from the US Embassy in Khartoum out of the country.

She said that the State Department would do a drawdown if they could, but with ongoing fighting and the airport closed and partially damaged, it was not currently an option.

There are roughly 70 American staffers at the Khartoum embassy, according to congressional aides. They have no options to leave Sudan on their own without immense risk to their safety.

Since fierce hostilities between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group have erupted last weekend, the US has been contemplating the evacuation of government employees and has been transporting them from their homes to a secure, centralized location to prepare for such an eventuality.

Many roads were cut off in the capital, Khartoum, where seven million people are held hostage by the fighting. The violent clashes in Sudan also shut down the Khartoum Airport and damaged the aircraft.

There is concern in the US administration as the American embassy staff are currently sheltering at the US compound about eight miles from the international airport.



UN Seeks $6 Billion to Ease Hunger Catastrophe in Sudan

Displaced Sudanese, who fled the Zamzam camp, gather near the town of Tawila in North Darfur on February 14, 2025. (AFP)
Displaced Sudanese, who fled the Zamzam camp, gather near the town of Tawila in North Darfur on February 14, 2025. (AFP)
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UN Seeks $6 Billion to Ease Hunger Catastrophe in Sudan

Displaced Sudanese, who fled the Zamzam camp, gather near the town of Tawila in North Darfur on February 14, 2025. (AFP)
Displaced Sudanese, who fled the Zamzam camp, gather near the town of Tawila in North Darfur on February 14, 2025. (AFP)

UN officials on Monday asked for $6 billion for Sudan this year from donors to help ease what they called the world's worst ever hunger catastrophe and the mass displacement of people brought on by civil war.

The UN appeal represents a rise of more than 40% from last year's for Sudan at a time when aid budgets around the world are under strain, partly due to a pause in funding announced by US President Donald Trump last month that has affected life-saving programs across the globe.

The UN says the funds are necessary because the impact of the 22-month war between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) - that has already displaced a fifth of its population and stoked severe hunger among around half its population - looks set to worsen.

World Food Program chief Cindy McCain, speaking via video to a room full of diplomats in Geneva, said: "Sudan is now the epicenter of the world's largest and most severe hunger crisis ever."

She did not provide figures, but Sudan's total population currently stands at about 48 million people. Among previous world famines, the Bengal Famine of 1943 claimed between 2 million and 3 million lives, according to several estimates, while millions are believed to have died in the Great Chinese Famine of 1959-61.

Famine conditions have been reported in at least five locations in Sudan, including displacement camps in Darfur, a UN statement said, and this was set to worsen with continued fighting and the collapse of basic services.

"This is a humanitarian crisis that is truly unprecedented in its scale and its gravity and it demands a response unprecedented in scale and intent," UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher said.

One of the famine-stricken camps was attacked by the RSF last week as the group tries to tighten its grip on its Darfur stronghold.

While some aid agencies say they have received waivers from Washington to provide aid in Sudan, uncertainty remains on the extent of coverage for providing famine relief.

The UN plan aims to reach nearly 21 million people within the country, making it the most ambitious humanitarian response so far for 2025, and requires $4.2 billion - the rest being for those displaced by the conflict.