US Has Not Evacuated American Civilians From Sudan Despite Moving Out Government Personnel

Amid the ongoing conflict in Sudan, the U.S. continues to insist that the crisis-hit country's situation is not conducive to an evacuation of American civilians.

Despite a number of nations evacuating their own citizens, the U.S. State Department said in a security alert Tuesday, "Due to the uncertain security situation in Khartoum and closure of the airport, it is not currently safe to undertake a U.S. government-coordinated evacuation of private U.S. citizens," Fox News reported.

The estimated 16,000 private U.S. citizens stranded in Sudan were advised to remain sheltered in place.

The U.S. military has evacuated all American government employees from Sudan since clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the country's main paramilitary force Rapid Support Forces (RSF) broke out more than a week ago, killing hundreds of people, including two Americans, and injuring thousands.

The U.S.' reluctance to conduct civilian evacuation has left Americans in Sudan feeling abandoned and forced them to make "life or death decisions" about leaving the country, CNN reported.

Muna Daoud, whose parents were trying to flee Sudan on their own, expressed her disappointment with the U.S. government, telling CNN: "I am incredibly shocked and disgusted by the American lackluster response to the health and safety of their citizens."

At the time of the interview, Daoud said her 69-year-old father and 66-year-old mother, both U.S. citizens, were making the dangerous nine-hour bus journey from Sudan's capital Khartoum to Port Sudan. Once they reach the port, they hope to get on a ferry to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where the State Department has said there are consular officials to assist Americans.

Daoud said that RSF soldiers stopped the bus carrying her parents at least three times. At one checkpoint, fighters "held my father at gunpoint because they believed he was in the Sudanese Army." RSF eventually released Daoud's father.

Imad, who requested that CNN withhold his last name and whose parents were traveling from Khartoum to Egypt, called the U.S. State Department "utterly useless throughout this entire period."

While U.S. officials said that they are "actively facilitating" U.S. citizens' departure from Sudan, Imad said that State Department officials have not provided critical information and only ordered his parents and other Americans stuck in the country to shelter in place.

Other people whose family members are among the "dozens" of U.S. citizens who wish to leave Sudan also told CNN that the State Department has provided "barely any assistance" since the clashes between the rival armed Sudanese factions erupted in mid-April.

Over the weekend, the U.S. evacuated all of its diplomatic personnel from Sudan and suspended its embassy operations in Khartoum.

A military operation led by the U.S. Africa Command involving more than 100 special operations forces was conducted to extract American diplomatic personnel from the country. Lt. Gen. D.A. Sims, the director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the evacuation was successfully completed in less than an hour.

"The evacuation was conducted in one movement via rotary wing. The operation was fast and clean with service members spending less than an hour on the ground in Khartoum," Sims said.

Countries including France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Spain, Holland, Turkey, Japan, South Korea, Jordan, South Africa, Egypt and Saudi Arabia are proceeding with evacuations of their citizens from Sudan.

The Associated Press noted that the U.S. does not usually evacuate private citizens when it closes an embassy because of turmoil. This was the case for places such as Yemen, Syria, Venezuela and Ukraine.

The armed conflict between Sudan's military and main paramilitary forces erupted on April 15 after negotiations to restore civilian rule in the country broke down.

According to the World Health Organization, at least 459 people have been killed in the ongoing conflict, and more than 4,000 have been wounded.