How elite US military forces evacuated US Embassy in Sudan

How elite US military forces evacuated US Embassy in Sudan


U.S. special operations teams rapidly evacuated all U.S. Embassy staff from Sudan's capital, Khartoum, Saturday, flying them out by helicopter at night to a military base in Djibouti. All 70 staffers were reported safe.

About 100 members of the U.S. Navy's SEAL Team Six and the Army's 3rd Special Forces Group led the evacuation. Diplomatic staffers boarded three MH-47 Chinook helicopters in a landing zone inside the embassy and were flown out of the country.

In a briefing, the operation was described as "fast and clean" by Lt. General D.A. Sims, director of operations for Joint Staff J3, who said teams were in the embassy compound for less than an hour.

The U.S. evacuation started at 9 a.m. Eastern time, or 3 p.m. in Khartoum, when three MH-47 helicopters left Djibouti and landed in Ethiopia for refueling.

 

The aircraft then flew about three hours at low altitude in the dark at about 115 mph to reach Khartoum.

Helicopters did not encounter opposition fire, the military said. Embassy staff were flown to naval base Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti. They were then taken to Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany.

U.S. Marines who protected the embassy also were evacuated, Sims said. Though all U.S. government personnel have left, an undisclosed number of local staff will stay on as caretakers for the embassy, Bass said.