US considers evacuating American personnel from Sudan amid intense fighting

White House officials say President Joe Biden has yet to make final decision on flying Americans out of Khartoum

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby speaks during a briefing at the White House. EPA

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A White House official on Thursday said the US was preparing to potentially evacuate American personnel from Sudan, though a final decision has not yet been made.

During a regular news briefing, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said US President Joe Biden has authorised the military “to move forward with pre-positioning forces and to develop options”.

“The Pentagon did announce that they are moving forward to position military forces and capabilities nearby just for contingency purposes in case they will be needed for a kind of evacuation,” Mr Kirby told reporters at the White House.

“But again, no decision has been made on that.”

The announcement comes amid intensified fighting that erupted last weekend between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group. International efforts to reach a ceasefire have so far failed to take hold.

“There’s no indication that either side is deliberately going after or trying to hurt or target Americans,” Mr Kirby added.

“But it’s obviously a dangerous situation.”

Any US efforts to evacuate personnel, however, is likely to be fraught with challenges, as Sudan's major airport is not operating and using major roads carries significant security risks.

“It is not safe to undertake a US government co-ordinated evacuation of private American citizens at this time,” said Vedant Patel, deputy spokesman for the US State Department.

“But we're continuing to monitor the situation closely.”

Washington issued a travel warning to US citizens on Thursday, advising them to “stay inside” and “shelter in place”.

“We have been very clear about the need for American citizens to remain indoors, to stay off the roads, to shelter in place and to avoid travelling to the US embassy at this time,” Mr Patel added.

He added that all US embassy staff were safe and accounted for.