How Will The Pentagon Evacuate Americans From War-Torn Sudan?

ANALYSIS – Mineral-rich Sudan, Africa's third-largest country, has been a tragic site of mass murder and mayhem for two decades. Since 2003 at least 300,000 people have died in genocidal attacks, especially in the Darfur region.

But now, two rival generals and their armies, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), previously allied, are battling for national supremacy.

Janes, the global open-source intelligence company, argues that the SAF was both de facto and de jure in control of Sudan before clashes began April 15. The RSF's attempt to take control of strategic locations across the capital is an attempted military coup by the RSF.

This is the beginning of a massive civil war. And the entire country is collateral damage.

Among them could be up to 19,000 Americans, including the entire U.S. Embassy staff in Khartoum.

The U.S. is planning an evacuation, but may not be able to evacuate American civilians, only embassy staff.

At least 400 people have been killed in just the past few days of fighting, including at least one American, and nearly 3,200 others wounded.

Warplanes and artillery are striking the center of the capital.

The situation is worsening by the minute. It has gotten so dangerous already that numerous countries are also trying to evacuate their people.

But that's easier said than done in a war zone.

As The New York Times reports:

Japan was the first country to announce a planned evacuation of its citizens. But announcing and actually carrying out the evacuations are two different things. Germany reportedly sent three planes, only to call off the rescue when they were en route.

Japanese, South Korean and Spanish military aircraft are all on standby and ready to evacuate their nationals, plus civilians from other countries from Sudan's capital, if allowed.

But the United States could be the first to actually stage a rescue, and the Pentagon is preparing.

U.S. Marines will likely lead the effort or at least play a role.

If we execute a non-combatant evacuation operation or NEO, it may need to be overland and would be the first one by ground since Libya in 2014.

I served in the Pacific as a Marine officer with the 11^th Marine Expeditionary Unit – Special Operations Capable (MEU-SOC), and one of our missions was NEOs, and another was embassy reinforcement. A third was – airfield seizure.

Some or all of these missions might be needed here.

However, sadly, as CNN reports:

Not included in the embassy evacuation contingency at this point is a Marine Expeditionary Unit, the defense official said, a quick response force of thousands of Marines that counts evacuation operations among its critical missions.

A MEU deploys aboard a Navy ship, but a lack of ready amphibious vessels have recently hindered the Marine Corps' MEU mission.

So, the Marines involved may be Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security Teams (FAST), part of the Marine Corps Security Force Regiment, a dedicated security and anti-terrorism unit.

It provides security forces to guard high-value naval installations, most notably those containing nuclear vessels and weapons but could be valuable here.

U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force units and personnel will all likely be part of any evacuation effort.

According to a State Department source, due to the fighting at the Khartoum airport, “it is currently not safe to undertake a U.S. government-coordinated evacuation of U.S. citizens.”

Other airports and airfields may be unusable.

So, other options are being considered.

As AP reports:

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… is not a friend of the U.S. or the West in general.

Some countries are considering seaborne escape routes.

Meanwhile, The New York Times reports that:

Much of the fighting has occurred in and around Khartoum, including in residential areas and other typically bustling parts of the city. Many residents have been hunkering down in their homes amid the bombardments, gun battles and sniper fire that have hit civilian infrastructure, including many hospitals.

There have been reports of gunmen breaking into houses and attacking civilians, including a European ambassador.

Planning for an evacuation reportedly intensified after an American diplomatic convoy came under fire on Monday.

The Pentagon has stated it is deploying additional troops and equipment to Camp Lemonnier, a U.S. Marine base in Djibouti, a small African country on the Gulf of Aden sandwiched between Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia.

This will be the staging point for any evacuation operation.

But an embassy evacuation is not the end of the story. It could be just the beginning.

“What happens in Sudan will not stay in Sudan,” said Alan Boswell of the International Crisis Group in The Hill. “Chad and South Sudan look most immediately at risk of potential spillover. But the longer (the fighting) drags on the more likely it is we see major external intervention.”

And that could mean even more U.S. forces coming back to Sudan soon after.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.

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