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U.S. troops are evacuating staff from the U.S. embassy in Sudan as fighting continues for a ninth day, according to a senior Biden administration official.
A second U.S. official confirmed that U.S. troops airlifting embassy staff from the Sudanese capital Khartoum had safely left Sudanese airspace.
Joe Biden ordered U.S. troops to evacuate the embassy after receiving advice from his national security team on Saturday, but the fighting showed no signs of ending, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the mission.
The evacuation order is believed to apply to about 70 Americans.
The U.S. State Department has suspended embassy operations due to the dire security situation. It was not immediately clear when the embassy would resume operations.
Fighting has killed more than 400 people since April 15, when leaders of two factions battled for control of the country, according to the World Health Organization.
The violence included unprovoked attacks on U.S. diplomatic convoys and multiple incidents in which foreign diplomats and aid workers were killed, injured or assaulted.
The White House said it had no plans for a government-coordinated evacuation of U.S. citizens trapped in Sudan.
An estimated 16,000 US citizens are registered at the embassy in Sudan.
The embassy issued a warning earlier on Saturday, warning that “due to the uncertain security situation in Khartoum and the closure of the airport, it is not safe at this time to evacuate US citizens coordinated by the US government”.
The U.S. evacuation plan was officially launched on Monday after the embassy convoy was attacked in Khartoum.
The Pentagon confirmed Friday that U.S. troops were being moved to Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti ahead of a possible withdrawal.
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