As Townhall reported on Thursday, the Department of Defense announced that U.S. Africa Command was "pre-positioning" troops in Djibouti for a potential evacuation operation to get U.S. government personnel in Sudan out of the country amid fighting between warring factions. Now, urgency is rising after the State Department confirmed on Friday that a U.S. citizen was killed in Sudan, according to NBC News, and the National Security Council's John Kirby said the Biden administration was in touch with the victim's family.
NSC spox John Kirby confirms that State Department is in touch with the family of the American citizen who was killed in the fighting in Sudan
— Christian Datoc (@TocRadio) April 21, 2023
WH is currently preparing for for potential evacuation of diplomatic personnel from Khartoum
In Thursday's White House press briefing that came after President Biden's decision to pre-position U.S. troops, Kirby — who served as Pentagon press secretary during the Biden administration's deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan — said that the White House was using lessons it allegedly learned from August 2021 as it readied troops for a potential evacuation of the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum.
But according to both Kirby and the State Department's Security Alert for Khartoum, there are no plans for a U.S. government-coordinated evacuation of private American citizens from Khartoum or the surrounding area. What's more, the State Department warned citizens against trying to get to U.S. Embassy Khartoum and instead advised them to remain sheltering in place.
Sudan: U.S. citizens are strongly advised to remain indoors, shelter in place until further notice, and avoid travel to the U.S. embassy. There continues to be ongoing fighting, gunfire, and security forces activity. There have also been reports of assaults, home invasions, and… pic.twitter.com/CXDFbL7Pug
— Travel - State Dept (@TravelGov) April 20, 2023
According to Kirby, the plan is to wait and hope for a cease-fire to hold and the violence to stop, but that option means the safety of Americans — both government personnel and private citizens — is dependent on the violence staying away from where they are sheltering.
With no end to the violence in Khartoum — that includes fighting, gunfire, security forces activity, reports of assaults, home invasions, and looting — in sight currently, it's unclear how long the Biden administration expects Americans to remain holed up without outside assistance from the Biden administration.
This is a developing story and may be updated.