US denies paramilitary group’s claim it helped evacuate Americans from Sudan

The U.S. refuted a claim from the paramilitary group fighting the Sudanese military that it helped evacuate U.S. personnel from the country over the weekend, after Americans were airlifted from the capital city of Khartoum.

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF)  paramilitary group, which has been locked in intense fighting with the Sudanese military, said it helped coordinate the evacuation of U.S. personnel, a claim that the Department of State rejected.

“You may have seen some assertions in social media in recent hours, that the Rapid Security Forces somehow coordinated with us and supported this operation. That was not the case,” said Under Secretary of State for Management John Bass.

“They cooperated to the extent that they did not fire on our service members in the course of the operation,” Bass added.

The rebuttal comes after Secretary of State Antony Blinken said over the weekend that operations at the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, the country’s capital, were being suspended. The decision to airlift American personnel out of the country comes as fighting between the RSF and the Sudanese military has killed over 400 people, including an American citizen, as the forces jockey for control of the city.

The two groups joined to orchestrate a coup of the government in 2021. Now, the once-allied sides have descended into battle.

International partners, including the U.S., have called on the sides to stop the fighting immediately. There was a temporary three-day truce for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, but the fighting appeared to have continued.

“We agreed it was essential for the parties to immediately end hostilities without pre-condition,” Blinken said in a statement last weekend after speaking with top diplomats from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, two countries with considerable interests in Sudan.

French leadership also said Sunday it was planning the evacuation of its embassy staff, citizens and the citizens of its allies from Sudan.