The decision to evacuate the American personnel comes after a week of heavy fighting between rival military factions -- the Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF, and the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF -- which has left hundreds dead and thousands wounded.
The US military deployed "additional capabilities" near Sudan in recent days to prepare for a potential evacuation of the US Embassy as American officials continued to monitor the volatile situation on the ground.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had urged the heads of the warring parties to reach a ceasefire agreement for the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which would allow a potential window to evacuate US diplomats who had been sheltering in place since the violence broke out.
The State Department does not keep official counts of US citizens in foreign countries and Americans are not required to register when they go abroad. Officials told staffers Wednesday that there could be an estimated 16,000 American citizens in Sudan, most of whom are dual nationals.
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