US starts evacuating Americans from Sudan. Top US Marine General felt he 'let down' Commanders

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: News is emerging about why the US is now evacuating some of its 16,000 nationals in Sudan. There must have been good reasons for the delay after a diplomatic convoy in Khartoum was shot at and two Americans died in separate incidents. Can't be easy I'm sure. 

Report from the Daily Mail

By Rob Crilly, Senior U.S. Political Reporter For Dailymail.Com
Dated Thursday 28 April 2023, 10:01:48 pm BST UK

U.S. FINALLY starts evacuating citizens from Sudan: Buses carrying 300 Americans leave war-torn Khartoum over land as Biden administration faces questions of why it's taken so long to help get the trapped out

A convoy carrying about 300 Americans left Khartoum Friday, after Washington came under pressure to explain why thousands of U.S. citizens remained without help.

Read full story here: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12026863/U-S-FINALLY-starts-evacuating-citizens-Sudan-Buses-carrying-300-Americans-leave-Khartoum.html

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Report from Military.com

By Konstantin Toropin

Friday 28 April 2023 - full copy:

Top Marine General Felt He 'Let Down' Commanders with Lack of Marines Available for Emergencies

An UH-1Y Huey helicopter arrives at USNS Joshua Humphreys to retrieve cargo palettes to deliver to the amphibious transport dock ship USS Mesa Verde during a vertical replenishment mission April 5, 2017. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Gunnery Sgt. Adaecus G. Brooks)

The Marine Corps' top general expressed serious regrets over the fact that Marines were not available to help in two major crises in recent months because of a lack of available Navy ships to position units in nearby waters.

"Places like Turkey or, the last couple of weeks, in Sudan -- I feel like I let down the combatant commander," Commandant Gen. David Berger told members of the House Armed Services Committee on Friday.

"[Gen. Michael Langley] didn't have a sea-based option -- that's how we reinforce embassies, that's how we evacuate them," Berger added, referring to the head of U.S. Africa Command.

The remarks come amid a growing debate in the halls of Congress over how the Navy is meeting the legal requirement to operate 31 amphibious ships for the Marines, designed to be used as maritime operations hubs. Corps leaders and even lower-ranking officers have been stressing that they need those ships at sea to fulfill their missions.

In this year's budget proposals, the Navy suggested that it would drop its amphibious ship numbers below that 31 ships threshold by retiring older dock landing ships, or LSDs, while pausing orders of the replacement San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ships, or LPDs.

"We have some LSD platforms, for example, that cannot be made operationally available to fulfill the requirements that we need," Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro said in the same hearing.

Meanwhile, reporting from USNI in March revealed that the pause in buying more LPDs didn't come from the Navy but rather from the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Pentagon leaders told reporters at the time that they felt that the current array of amphibious ships was "sufficient."

The devastating earthquake that struck Turkey in February and killed more than 50,000 people and the more recent civil conflict in Sudan that prompted the evacuation of 70 people from the U.S. embassy in Khartoum have provided clear examples for Berger of the value of always having a Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) nearby.

"That's the best chance you have of responding to a crisis immediately, and there needs to be one in the Pacific and one in [the] Mediterranean, Africa, [Middle East] area 12 months a year," Berger told Congress.

In the fleet, Navy leaders seem to agree.

During a recent Marine-sponsored trip to the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan, Capt. Martin Robertson, the commander of Amphibious Squadron Eight, told reporters that the ability for Marines to base off of amphibious ships is "a very important capability" that allows the two services to not only extract Americans from harm's way but also offer foreign humanitarian assistance and disaster response "if we're deployed forward somewhere."

"We can move very quickly and get into the area and get that initial help flowing," he added.

Col. Dennis Sampson, the commander of the 26th MEU, also stressed to reporters that "our presence does matter [and] amphibs are critically important for the Marine Corps."

Berger made clear that he views the capability as key to America's standing in the world.

"That's how we evacuated citizens out of Lebanon, that's how we went into Afghanistan in 2001," Berger said Friday. "Here's my concern: The first time this nation can't respond to a crisis and one of our adversaries can -- probably the last time we get asked."

-- Konstantin Toropin can be reached at konstantin.toropin@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @ktoropin.

Related: Why the US Evacuation from Sudan Left Americans Behind

View original: https://www.military.com/daily-news/2023/04/28/top-marine-general-felt-he-let-down-commanders-lack-of-marines-available-emergencies.html

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Top US, Sudanese generals discuss safety of Americans in call. UN and others work to extract staff

Report from Alarabiya.net

By Reuters

Published: 22 April 2023: 02:07 AM GST

Updated: 22 April 2023: 02:42 AM GST

Top US, Sudanese generals discuss safety of Americans in call

PHOTO United States Army General Mark A. Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Rayburn House Office building on Capitol Hill on September 29, 2021 in Washington, DC. (AFP)

The top US general discussed the safety of Americans in Sudan during a phone call with Sudan’s army chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, on Friday, the Pentagon said, as Washington considers a possible embassy evacuation amid fighting in Sudan’s capital.

“The two leaders discussed the safety of Americans and the developing situation in Sudan,” said a statement from Army General Mark Milley’s office. Milley is chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Forces commanded by two previously allied leaders of Sudan’s ruling council began a violent power struggle last weekend. Hundreds have died so far, and a nation reliant on food aid has been tipped into what the United Nations calls a humanitarian catastrophe.

Read more:

[…] Washington has said private American citizens in Sudan should have no expectation of a US government-coordinated evacuation. State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said the United States was in touch with several hundred American citizens understood to be in Sudan.

Earlier on Friday, the State Department confirmed the death of one US citizen in the country.

UN works to extract staff

Other countries and the United Nations are also looking at how they can evacuate citizens and employees.

The UN has been trying to extract staff from “very dangerous” zones in Sudan to move them to safer locations, the top UN aid official in Sudan, Abdou Dieng, said on Thursday. Dieng said he had been moved to a safer area on Wednesday.

The UN has about 4,000 staff in Sudan, of which 800 are international staff. A UN source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there were a further 6,000 UN staff family members and associated personnel in Sudan.

Switzerland said on Friday it was examining ways to evacuate nationals from Sudan, and Sweden said it will evacuate embassy staff and families as soon as possible.

Spanish military aircraft are on standby and ready to evacuate some 60 Spanish nationals and others from Khartoum, and South Korea sent a military aircraft to stand by at a US military base in Djibouti to evacuate its nationals when possible.

View original: https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2023/04/22/US-military-prepares-options-for-possible-Sudan-evacuation

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No evacuation plans for all Americans in Sudan

Report from The Associated Press

By LOLITA C. BALDOR, MATTHEW LEE and TARA COPP

Friday 21 April 2023 - full copy

White House: No evacuation plans for all Americans in Sudan

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany (AP) — The Pentagon has deployed forces and is developing options to assist in the possible evacuation of U.S. Embassy personnel from Sudan, but the White House said Friday there are no plans for now for a broader pullout of the potentially thousands of other Americans from the African country where warring factions are in a violent conflict.

The troop moves by the U.S. military are intended “to ensure that we provide as many options as possible, if we are called on to do something. We haven’t been called on to do anything yet,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said at a news conference in Germany. Austin and U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley, the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, held meeting meetings with defense leaders from other countries to discuss additional support for Ukraine. 

An estimated 16,000 private U.S. citizens are registered with the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum as being in Sudan. The State Department has cautioned that that figure probably is inaccurate because there is no requirement for Americans to register nor is there a requirement to notify the embassy when they leave.

“It’s absolutely imperative that U.S. citizens in Sudan make their own arrangements to stay safe in these difficult circumstances,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said in Washington.

He added that “Americans should have no expectation of a U.S. government coordinated evacuation at this time. And we expect that that’s going to remain the case.” 

For embassy staff, according to an American official, a small number of U.S. troops have begun arriving in the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti, where the U.S. is pre-positioning forces and equipment to assist in any potential evacuation. The official said Army soldiers are being tapped for the task.

The U.S. troops are being moved to Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti. Evacuation planning for Sudan got underway in earnest on Monday after a U.S. Embassy convoy was attacked in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital.

The conflict between Sudan’s military and a rival paramilitary force is worsening. The military has ruled out negotiations and said it would only accept surrender as a temporary cease-fire ended, raising the likelihood of a renewed surge in the nearly weeklong violence that has killed hundreds.

The U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private deliberations, said Milley discussed the situation with defense officials from Germany, Italy and Canada, among others. One topic was ensuring that any potential evacuation efforts did not conflict.

The U.S. State Department said Friday that an American citizen had died in Sudan, but did not have further details. 

“We are in touch with the family and offer our deepest condolences to them on their loss. Out of respect for the family during this difficult time, we have nothing further to add,” the department said in a statement. 

Lee and Copp reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report.

View original: https://apnews.com/article/united-states-sudan-djibouti-evacuation-2773f4922611aeed462652f178745688

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US military plans possible Sudan embassy evacuation

Report from The Associated Press

By MATTHEW LEE and LOLITA C. BALDOR

Thursday 20 April 2023

US military prepares for possible Sudan embassy evacuation

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon is moving additional troops and equipment to a Naval base in the tiny Gulf of Aden nation of Djibouti to prepare for the possible evacuation of U.S. Embassy personnel from Sudan.

Two Biden administration officials say the deployments to Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti are necessary because of the current uncertain situation in Sudan, where fighting is raging between two warring factions.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the administration’s planning for a potential evacuation. That planning got underway in earnest on Monday after a U.S. Embassy convoy was attacked in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital.

In a statement Thursday, the Pentagon said it will deploy “additional capabilities” to the region to potentially help facilitate an evacuation of embassy personnel from Sudan if required, but provided no details, and did not state the location.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the decision to prepare for a possible evacuation was made by President Joe Biden in the “last couple of days.” The president “authorized the military to move forward with pre-positioning forces and to develop options,” Kirby told reporters at the White House.

“There’s no indication that either side is deliberately going after or trying to hurt or target Americans,” Kirby said. “But it’s obviously a dangerous situation.”

Deputy State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said conditions were not yet safe to mount any evacuation but stressed that all embassy personnel are safe and accounted for and that those who haven’t been moved to a secure centralized location had been instructed to shelter in place at their homes.

U.S. officials have told lawmakers concerned about the situation that there are roughly 70 American staffers at the Khartoum embassy, according to congressional aides.

An estimated 16,000 private U.S. citizens are registered with the embassy as being in Sudan, but the State Department has cautioned that that figure is likely inaccurate as there is no requirement for Americans to register nor is there a requirement to notify the embassy when they leave.

Since hostilities between the two factions erupted last weekend, the U.S. has been contemplating the evacuation of government employees and has been transporting them from their homes to a secure, centralized location to prepare for such an eventuality.

The officials said Djibouti, a small country on the Gulf of Aden sandwiched between Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia, will be the staging point for any evacuation operation.

However, any evacuation in the current circumstances is fraught with difficulty and security risks as Khartoum’s airport remains non-functional and overland routes from the capital out of the country are long and hazardous even without the current hostilities.

If a secure landing zone in or near Khartoum cannot be found, one option would be to drive evacuees to Port Sudan on the Red Sea. But that is a 12-hour trip and the roads over the 523-mile (841-kilometer) route are treacherous.

Another might be to drive to neighboring Eritrea, however that would also be problematic given that Eritrea’s leader, Isaias Afwerki, is not a friend of the U.S. or the West in general.

The last time the U.S. evacuated embassy personnel overland was from Libya in July 2014, when a large convoy of U.S. military vehicles drove staff from the Tripoli embassy to Tunisia. 

There have been more recent evacuations, most notably in Afghanistan and Yemen, but those have been conducted largely by air.

View original: https://apnews.com/article/united-states-sudan-djibouti-evacuation-2773f4922611aeed462652f178745688

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Pentagon Positioning Forces Near Sudan

Report from: Voice of America (VOA)

By CARLA BABB

Thursday 20 April 2023 12:45 PM

Pentagon Positioning Forces Near Sudan

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, GERMANY — The Pentagon is positioning military forces near Sudan to help evacuate U.S. Embassy personnel in Khartoum, if needed, amid the explosion of violence between the African country's two warring factions.

U.S. Africa Command is monitoring the situation in Sudan and conducting "prudent planning for various contingencies," according to a statement from the Department of Defense.

"As a matter of policy and security, we do not speculate on potential future operations," it added. […]

Washington has called for the two groups to "renounce violence and return to negotiations," adding that the country's two top generals "are responsible for ensuring the protection of civilians and noncombatants." […]

The World Health Organization reports the fighting has restricted movement in the capital, creating challenges for doctors and other health care workers.

Watch related video by Cindy Saine:

PHOTO FILE - Smoke rises over the horizon as a fire burns after a strike in Khartoum, Sudan, April 16, 2023.

View original: https://www.voanews.com/a/pentagon-positioning-forces-near-sudan-/7059108.html

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