Americans use private agencies to flee Sudan as Biden stops evacuation

Khartoum: After United States announced Saturday that they will not be carrying out evacuations from war torn Sudan on Saturday, those still trapped are hiring private agencies to help paying individuals get out of there.

As the country descended into violence over a power struggle between the country’s de facto leader and the head of a rival paramilitary group, American military forces in Sudan were ordered by President Joe Biden to evacuate 70 staff members and their families from the US Embassy.

According to reports, an estimated 16,000 US citizens are still seeking evacuation.

“We have advised Americans not to travel to Sudan since August 2021,” Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson for the US State Department, said in a press briefing on Friday.

“The US embassy in Khartoum’s security alert on April 16th stated that due to the uncertain security situations in Khartoum and closure of the airport, Americans should have no expectation of a US government-coordinated evacuation at this time.”

“It is essential that Americans living in Sudan make their own arrangements for safety in these trying situations.”

The WSJ report said that as a result, some citizens decided to employ private security on their own.

Global Guardian

Dale Buckner, CEO of one such agency called Global Guardian told WSJ reporter that his company’s employees have escorted scores of expatriates to other nations while occasionally escaping gunfire, artillery, and mortar bombardment.

In a battle zone that is still in progress, “our rescue teams have to negotiate dozens of checkpoints. We have a large number of other clients in queue. But it’s becoming more and more hazardous,” he said.

The Global Guardian team, which is composed of former military special operations and federal law enforcement officials, has been providing international services over the past week, such as asset protection, personal security, and evacuations from Sudan to Egypt and Eritrea.

Veteran of the US Army for 24 years, Buckner said Global Guardian staff had discovered collapsed bridges, armed paramilitaries at numerous checkpoints, and airspace that was fully blocked to commercial aircraft.
His crew had to reportedly wait for temporary ceasefires to transport individuals out of the country after a rush within the first 48 hours to send them to the neighbouring nations of Egypt and Eritrea, according to Buckner, who told CNN that the situation became more challenging.

According to Buckner, the combat was aimed at hospitals, water supplies, and transportation infrastructure.

Deja Vu for Americans in Sudan

According to House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul of Texas, the 2021 compared the Americans’ situation in Sudan to what it was in Afghanistan two years ago.

“Afghanistan operation “demonstrated the consequences of failing to plan adequately for worst-case scenarios, mixed messaging by the State Department, unclear chains of command, the inadequate coordination between the State Department and the Department of Defense, and the failure to coordinate with private organisations evacuating American citizens.”

“I seek clarification of several key issues necessary for a successful evacuation of American citizens in Sudan,” McCaul continued.

“I do not want to repeat the mistakes of the Afghanistan evacuation,” he asserted.

But the White House is adamant in its decision not to step in on behalf of Americans caught up in the turmoil in Sudan, despite leaders’ requests for clarification.

American citizens who are abroad are not routinely evacuated, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Friday.

“Afghanistan was a special place for a variety of reasons, including the fact that the 20-year conflict had ended and the country already had a sizable military presence. The evacuation from Afghanistan wasn’t typical.

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