The U.S. State Department confirmed that it’s launching the first mass evacuation of its citizens from Sudan amid fighting between rival factions that started earlier this month.
A U.S. government-backed convoy carrying U.S. citizens arrived at Port Sudan on April 29, the State Department said in a statement over the weekend. Port Sudan, which sits near the Red Sea, is located hundreds of miles away from Khartoum, Sudan’s capital.
“The U.S. government has taken extensive efforts to contact U.S. citizens in Sudan and enable the departure of those who wished to leave,” the statement reads. “We messaged every U.S. citizen in Sudan who communicated with us during the crisis and provided specific instructions about joining this convoy to those who were interested in departing via the land route….