US Military on High Alert as Possible Evacuation at Sudan Embassy Looms

The Pentagon has sent some more troops and equipment to Camp Lemmonier in Djibouti, a small country near the Gulf of Aden. This is so if it’s needed, the U.S. Embassy in Sudan can be evacuated safely due to the ongoing fighting between two opposing forces.

The people in charge started making plans to move away from Sudan after a convoy of their own was attacked. The Pentagon said they would create resources that could help move Embassy travelers if it becomes necessary, but did not explain the location or what the resources would be.

The US State Department is not able to make their staff leave the country yet due to bad security conditions, especially in Khartoum. This situation started when there was a fight between two groups last weekend. To be safe, the US government is now sending their workers from their homes to a more secure place so they can get ready for leaving the country if needed.

The officials said Djibouti, a tiny country between Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia on the Gulf of Aden, will be the starting point for any evacuation. However, this is difficult due to security risks since the Khartoum airport doesn’t work and roads from there to other countries are long and very dangerous in the present situation.

If there isn’t a safe place near Khartoum, we could evacuate people by car to Port Sudan on the Red Sea. But it’s 12 hours away and there are five hundred and twenty-three miles of bumpy roads. Attempting to go to the neighbouring country Eritrea might be difficult too because their leader Isaias Afwerki isn’t friendly with the U.S and the West in general.

The last time the U.S. took people from an embassy in a car was from Libya, back in 2014. Since then, other evacuations happened but were instead done by airplane in Afghanistan and Yemen.