The U.S. military has evacuated diplomats in Sudan as fighting continues

Transcript

CAMILA DOMONOSKE, HOST:

As the fighting between the two rival military sides moves into a second week, the situation in Sudan is rapidly deteriorating. President Biden has confirmed the evacuation of U.S. government staff and their dependents from the besieged Sudanese capital of Khartoum late last night. Thousands of American citizens remain in Sudan, and Biden says the U.S. is offering them assistance. France, the U.K., Saudi Arabia and several other countries also said they had evacuated their personnel and citizens. Meanwhile, millions of people in Sudan are making desperate attempts to flee. NPR's Emmanuel Akinwotu joins us now from Lagos. Hi, Emmanuel.

EMMANUEL AKINWOTU, BYLINE: Good morning.

DOMONOSKE: I want to ask about the humanitarian situation. But first, what more do we know about the U.S. evacuation, which must have been an extremely dangerous operation?

AKINWOTU: Yes. About 70 U.S. government staff, their dependents, were airlifted by military aircraft from Khartoum. You know, the aircraft took off from Djibouti, stopped in Ethiopia, and then arrived in Khartoum, where it was on the ground for an hour. And as you said, this operation took place in an extremely precarious context. The fighting has not stopped. Even the briefest humanitarian cease-fires have failed. You know, just a three-hour cease-fire failed this week. There are currently no plans to evacuate U.S. citizens. There are an estimated 16,000 U.S. citizens registered in Sudan. But President Biden said the U.S. are providing assistance to anyone trying to leave. Many of the foreign evacuations in Sudan have been centered on Port Sudan, which is on the eastern coast, facing the Red Sea.

DOMONOSKE: Meanwhile, thousands and thousands of Sudanese are fleeing the fighting. Over 3,000 have been injured. The humanitarian situation is looking increasingly desperate. What is the latest on the ground?

AKINWOTU: Yes, exactly. You know, the context for these foreign evacuations are millions of people in Sudan and in Khartoum that are under siege. At least 400 people have died. That was the toll that was given on Friday, so it's likely higher now. About 20,000 people have fled to the border with Chad. I spoke to someone this morning who left Khartoum and is trying to get to Egypt, but there are reports of RSF fighters - Rapid Support Force fighters - who are robbing and abusing people at checkpoints along the way.

The speed of the deterioration in Khartoum has frankly been stunning. The fighting has overwhelmed large parts of the capital, residential areas, commercial areas. Most of the hospitals are shut, and the few that are open are overwhelmed. Supplies are running thin. There are reports of dead bodies on the streets and fighters breaking into people's homes, looting and committing sexual abuses.

DOMONOSKE: And this has been going on for over a week now with no letup. Are there any signs of how this terrible conflict could be evolving?

AKINWOTU: There has been the threat right from the beginning that this conflict ropes in other armed actors, in Sudan and outside. You know, these actors have largely called for negotiations for now. You know, Sudan is a vast and ethnically diverse country. And fighting in areas like Darfur is taking on an ethnic dimension that could see this conflict grow more complicated. At the moment, this isn't a civil war, but the threat is that it could become one the longer that this conflict continues.

DOMONOSKE: That's NPR's Emmanuel Akinwotu. Thanks.

AKINWOTU: Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF MAC DEMARCO'S "CRESCENT CITY") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.