Warring factions trying to seize control of the east African nation of Sudan have plunged the country into chaos, and thousands are fleeing the capital of Khartoum and nearby battle zones. Some countries, including the U.S., have shuttered their embassies and many are coordinating daring evacuations of their staffs and other residents in an array of convoys, flights and frantic getaway drives.
But over the past week there have been dramatically different responses by various governments as they try to get their citizens and embassy personnel to safety. The U.S. has come under scrutiny for evacuating roughly 70 embassy staff in a helicopter mission by elite SEAL commandos over the weekend, while warning thousands of private American citizens in Sudan there would be no similar evacuation for them.
The State Department, which has advised U.S. citizens for years not to travel to Sudan, continues to advise Americans to shelter in place. Most of the estimated 16,000 Americans believed to be in Sudan right now are dual U.S.-Sudanese nationals and only a fraction of them have expressed a desire to leave.
But at least some of those who want to leave have managed to get to Port Sudan where they can take a ferry to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, or have gotten seats on flights operated by other countries.
A look at the situation:
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WHAT’S HAPPENING IN SUDAN
It all boils down to a struggle for power between two powerful generals and their armies: Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, who leads the Sudanese armed forces, and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of a paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces.
Four years ago, a popular uprising in Sudan helped depose long-time autocrat Omar al-Bashir. But in 2021, the two generals — Burhan and Dagalo — jointly orchestrated a coup that derailed efforts to develop a civilian government. Both men have a history of human rights abuses, and their forces have cracked down on pro-democracy activists.
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