United News of Bangladesh

Russia's defense minister on Tuesday hosted his counterparts from Iran, Syria and Turkey for talks that were part of the Kremlin's efforts to help broker a rapprochement between the Turkish and Syrian governments. The Russian Defense Ministry said the talks focused on “practical steps to strengthen security in the Syrian Arab Republic and to normalize Syrian-Turkish relations.” Moscow has waged a military campaign in Syria since September 2015, teaming up with Iran to allow Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government to reclaim control over most of the country while Turkey has backed armed opposition to Assad throughout the 12-year conflict. While the bulk of Russia's armed forces have been busy fighting in Ukraine, Moscow has maintained its military presence in Syria and has also made persistent efforts to help Assad rebuild fractured ties with Turkey and other countries in the region following the civil war that has killed nearly 500,000 people and displaced half of the country’s prewar population. Also Read: Sweden expels 5 Russian Embassy staff on suspicion of spying In December, Moscow hosted a surprise meeting of the Turkish and Syrian defense ministers, the first such encounter since Syria’s uprising-turned-civil-war began in 2011. And earlier this month, senior diplomats from Russia, Turkey, Syria and Iran met in Moscow for two days of talks intended to set the stage for a meeting of the four countries' foreign ministers. The efforts toward a Turkish-Syrian reconciliation come as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is under intense pressure at home to send Syrian refugees back amid a steep economic downturn and an increasing anti-refugee sentiment. He faces presidential and parliamentary elections in May. The Russian Defense Ministry said in its readout of Tuesday’s talks that the parties "reaffirmed their adherence to the preservation of Syria’s territorial integrity and the need to step up efforts to allow a speedy return of Syrian refugees.” Also Read: UN chief, representatives of the West berate Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov over Ukraine war The Turkish Defense Ministry issued a similarly worded statement, noting that the four ministers discussed the issue of strengthening security in Syria, the concrete steps that can be taken to normalize ties between Turkey and Syria, the fight against terrorist and extremist groups on the Syrian territory and efforts for the return of Syrian refugees. The statement said the sides also emphasized the importance of the continuation of the four-party meetings “to ensure and maintain stability in Syria and the region as a whole.” On Tuesday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu also hosted Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and his counterparts from Syria and Iran for separate bilateral talks. Turkey has de facto control over large swathes of northwestern Syria, and Assad's government has described the withdrawal of Turkish forces from Syrian territory is a prerequisite for a normalization of ties. But even as Turkey has supported Syrian opposition fighters in the north, Ankara and Damascus are equally dismayed over the U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Syria’s northeast. Turkey-backed opposition fighters have clashed with the SDF in the past, accusing them of being an arm of Turkey’s outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. The PKK has for decades waged an insurgency within Turkey. Assad’s government has cast the SDF as a secessionist force that has been pilfering the country’s wealth while controlling Syria’s major oil fields. The Russian Defense Ministry noted that during Tuesday's talks “special attention was given to countering terror threats and fighting all groups of extremists on Syrian territory.”

Sweden informed Russia on Tuesday that five employees of the Russian Embassy in Stockholm were asked to leave the country because they were suspected of spying. Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström said the alleged activities of the five were “incompatible” with their diplomatic status. Billström said Russia’s ambassador to Sweden, Viktor Tatarintsev, was informed of the expulsions. The Swedish Security Service, which is known by the acronym SAPO, recently received a list of names of a number of suspected Russian intelligence officers, Swedish broadcaster SVT reported. The domestic security agency has said that “every third Russian diplomat in Sweden is an intelligence officer.” Also Read: Sweden arrest 5 suspected of terror, ties to Quran burning Sweden also expelled three Russian Embassy staff members a year ago. Neighboring Norway said two weeks ago that it was expelling 15 Russian diplomats accused of spying. The public broadcasting companies of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden reported last week in a joint investigation that Russia was suspected of spying in the waters of the Baltic Sea and North Sea using civilian fishing trawlers, cargo ships and yachts. For their series titled “Shadow War,” the broadcasters analyzed marine radio traffic and locations of Russian vessels. They said the data revealed suspicious sailing patterns, particularly around offshore wind farms, gas pipelines and undersea power and data cables. A new episode is scheduled to air Wednesday. Also Read: Finland could join NATO ahead of Sweden: Defense minister Alarmed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, Sweden and neighboring Finland applied to join NATO in May 2022, seeking protection under the organization’s security umbrella. Also Read: Rohingya response: Sweden announces $7.6m for energy, environment programme  Finland joined the military alliance on April 4. However, objections from NATO members Turkey and Hungary have delayed the process for Sweden, which has avoided military alliances for more than 200 years.

As continued fighting raises fears that Sudan could plunge deeper into chaos, foreign governments are scrambling to get their diplomats and other citizens safely out. Most countries deployed military transport aircraft to fly people out, including France which used its airbase in neighboring Djibouti for the airlift. But not all is going smoothly — about 2,000 British nationals remain in Sudan, and many complain that their government isn’t giving them enough information about evacuation plans. Although some flights included people of various nationalities, here’s a country-by-country accounting of evacuation efforts based on information available so far: UNITED STATES: White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Monday that Washington has begun facilitating the overland departure of private U.S. citizens who want to leave Sudan with the use of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets. Earlier, the U.S. government told some 16,000 US citizens in Sudan that they need to fend for themselves and that there won’t be mass evacuations. UNITED KINGDOM: Some 1,200 British soldiers who were part of a military operation out of a key British air base on the east Mediterranean island of Cyprus helped evacuate around 30 U.K. diplomatic staff and their families out of Sudan. Arrangements are being made to fly the evacuees back home from Cyprus. Britain’s Africa Minister, Andrew Mitchell, said about 2,000 U.K. citizens still in Sudan have registered with the embassy and that “intense planning” was underway for a “series of possible evacuations.” FRANCE: Officials say France has evacuated 491 people, including citizens from 36 countries, on flights to Djibouti in the nearby Horn of Africa. They include 23 Sudanese citizens who were family members or had other links to foreigners being evacuated and 38 citizens of Niger. Another 36 were Irish citizens and nine were Americans. Others included three wounded individuals, the German ambassador and several other foreign ambassadors. GERMANY: Four German military transport planes flew more than 400 people from Sudan to Jordan from where they’ll head to their home countries. German Foreign Minister Minister Annalena Baerbock said her country had evacuated citizens of 20 countries in addition to its own, and would try to continue doing so, even if the end of the ceasefire Monday could complicate the situation. The Austrian government said 27 people were Austrian citizens. CANADA: Canada’s foreign minister, Melanie Joly, says Ottawa is working with ``like-minded countries″ to help at least 1,600 citizens formally registered in Sudan flee the country. Canada suspended consular services in Sudan on Sunday, saying Canadian diplomats would ``temporarily work from a safe location outside the country.″ ITALY: Italian Air Force C-130 transport aircraft airlifted some 200 people out of Khartoum airport Sunday evening and flew them to Djibouti. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said they included 140 Italians, some Swiss, other Europeans and personnel from the Vatican’s embassy in Khartoum. SPAIN: Spain said it had evacuated approximately 172 people from the Sudanese capital to Djibouti so far, including 34 Spanish nationals and citizens of Argentina, Colombia, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Portugal and Poland. SWEDEN & DENMARK: Sweden says 25 of its embassy staff and their families were among the 388 people that French aircraft airlifted to Djibouti. Denmark said 15 of its citizens were among the group. SWITZERLAND: Switzerland’s Foreign Ministry says French forces have evacuated 12 Swiss nationals to Djibouti and Egypt. FINLAND: Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto tweeted that 10 Finns, including children, had been evacuated from Khartoum. He said efforts were underway to evacuate others still in the Sudanese capital. NORWAY: Norway’s Ambassador to Sudan Endre Stiansen has tweeted that he and two colleagues are “in a safe place” outside Sudan. POLAND: Poland’s Foreign Ministry said 11 Poles – including the ambassador to Sudan, diplomatic staff and private citizens — have been evacuated as part of French and Spanish efforts. NETHERLANDS: A pair of Dutch air force C-130 Hercules have flown from Sudan to Jordan Monday carrying an undisclosed number of Dutch and other evacuees. Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren said in a tweet more flights were planned “in close cooperation with partners.” BULGARIA: Bulgaria’s Foreign Ministry says 21 Bulgarian nationals have been evacuated by land to Egypt or by air to Europe. TURKEY: The Turkish government says it’s evacuating “hundreds” of its citizens by land to Ethiopia, from where they are scheduled to be flown to Istanbul. GREECE: Greece’s Foreign Ministry says 15 Greek nationals and their family members have been evacuated to Djibouti with the help of Italy. JAPAN: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says eight Japanese, including embassy officials and their family, were airlifted from an air base in northern Khartoum by the French military. Japanese defense troops had already evacuated 45 others to nearby Djibouti. SOUTH AFRICA: The South African government says at least 77 South African nationals, including embassy staff, are on on their way out of the Sudanese capital. KENYA: Kenya’s Foreign Ministry says 29 Kenyan students have crossed into Ethiopia and are in route to Nairobi, while the air force has a transport plane ready to fly out 18 students now on the road to the South Sudan border. Another two aircraft are expected to ferry 300-400 Kenyans to Jeddah. PALESTINIANS: The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates says some 72 Palestinians have relocated to Port Sudan, while vehicle convoys are carrying about 200 Palestinians to Egypt. SOUTH KOREA: South Korea says a bus transporting at least 28 of its nationals, including embassy staff, has entered Port Sudan’s international airport where a South Korean military aircraft awaits to fly them to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. JORDAN: Some 343 Jordanian nationals evacuated from Port Sudan arrived at Amman military airport aboard four transport aircraft. EGYPT: Egypt’s state-run MENA news agency says the country is urging the more than 10,000 Egyptian citizens in Sudan to head to Port Sudan and Wadi Halfa in the north for evacuation. Buses carrying an undisclosed number of Egyptian citizens crossed into Egypt from the Arqin border crossing on Monday.  

The total number of recorded Covid-19 cases around the world has now surpassed 686 million. According to the latest global data, the total Covid-19 case count is 686,579,615, while the death toll reached 6,860,200 this morning. The US has reported 106,580,794 Covid-19 cases so far, while 1,159,313 people have died from the virus in the country — both highest counts globally. India has reported 7,178 new Covid-19 cases in 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday.  The active cases in the country dropped to 65,683 from 67,806. The death toll in the country increased to 5,31,345 with 16 deaths during the period. Meanwhile, France and Germany have registered 39,951,432 and 38,396,459 Covid-19 cases so far, occupying the third and fourth positions in the world number-wise, and 166,289 and 172,635 people have died in the European countries, as per Worldometer. Covid-19 situation in Bangladesh Bangladesh reported seven more Covid-19 cases in 24 hours till Monday morning. With the new numbers, the country's total caseload rose to 2,038,161, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). However, the official death toll from the disease remained unchanged at 29,446 as no new fatalities were reported. The daily case test positivity increased to 1.55 percent from Sunday’s 1.52 percent as 452 samples were tested. The Covid-19 recovery and death rates remained unchanged at 98.40 percent and 1.44 percent, respectively.    

WASHINGTON (AP/UNB) — President Joe Biden will use this week’s celebratory state visit by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to underscore that the U.S. is ready to step up its efforts to deter a North Korean attack on South Korea, according to the White House. Biden will announce specific new nuclear deterrence efforts as well as a new cyber security initiative, economic investments and an educational partnership, part of an effort to highlight the breadth and depth of the two countries’ relationship as they mark the 70th anniversary of their alliance, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said. White House officials say Biden hopes to put a particular emphasis on the United States’ “iron clad” commitment to deterring nuclear action by North Korea as Pyongyang has stepped up ballistic missile tests, including flight-testing a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time earlier this month. The recent test is seen as a possible breakthrough in the North’s efforts to acquire a more powerful, harder-to-detect weapon targeting the continental United States. Sullivan didn’t offer details on the new deterrence efforts ahead of the leaders’ announcement, but said that the U.S. is looking to send a clear message to Pyongyang about its increasingly aggressive rhetoric. “What I will say is that we believe that the statement will send a very clear and demonstrable signal of the United States’ credibility when it comes to its extended deterrence commitments to the Republic of Korea and to the people of Korea,” Sullivan said, using the formal name for South Korea. Biden also hopes to use the visit, which begins Tuesday, to underscore the importance of South Korea and Japan building on their security ties. Biden has sought opportunities to help the historic rivals improve their long, fraught relationship as the Indo-Pacific region becomes increasingly complicated. He held trilateral meetings with Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida that largely focused on the North Korea threat on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit in Cambodia last November and at the NATO summit in Madrid in June. Last month, South Korea announced a plan to compensate Koreans who performed forced labor during Tokyo’s colonial rule that doesn’t require Japanese companies to contribute to the reparations. Biden hailed the step as a “groundbreaking new chapter” in cooperation between the countries. Yoon followed up by visiting Tokyo later in March for talks with Kishida. It was the first summit between the two nations’ leaders in Japan since 2011. Sullivan said Biden also plans to highlight Yoon’s “determination and courage” in rapprochement with Japan during the visit. Ahead of the Yoon visit, the United States, South Korea and Japan conducted a joint missile defense exercise last week aimed at countering North Korea’s growing nuclear arsenal. Experts say North Korean leader Kim Jong-un wants to pressure the United States into accepting North Korea as a legitimate nuclear power and hopes to negotiate an easing of sanctions from a position of strength. The United States and South Korea conducted their biggest field exercises in years in March and have also held separate naval and aerial drills involving a U.S. aircraft carrier battle group and nuclear-capable B-52 bombers. South Korean officials said that the two leaders would discuss human rights concerns in North Korea. Experts believe the food situation in North Korea is the worst it has been under Kim Jong Un’s 11-year rule, but they still say they see no signs of imminent famine or mass deaths. Kim vowed to strengthen state control over agriculture and take a spate of other steps to increase grain production, according to North Korean state media. Meanwhile, the White House recently declassified and released intelligence findings that show that Russia is looking again to North Korea for weapons to fuel the war in Ukraine in a deal that would provide Pyongyang with needed food and other commodities in return. The White House previously said North Korea had provided the Wagner Group, a private Russian military company, with arms to help bolster its forces as they fight side-by-side with Russian troops in Ukraine. South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin in a virtual speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington said there is a “dire human rights situation on the ground” and urged the international community to work together “to ease the anguish of ordinary North Korean people.” As part of his visit to Washington, Yoon is scheduled on Tuesday to tour NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center with Vice President Kamala Harris. The South Korean president will visit the Korean War Memorial with Biden and First Lady Jill Biden on Tuesday evening. The two leaders and aides will hold formal talks and a joint news conference on Wednesday before Yoon is honored with the state dinner. Yoon is to deliver a speech to the U.S. Congress on Thursday before traveling to Massachusetts where he is scheduled to speak at the Harvard Kennedy School. Biden has spent considerable time getting to know and consulting with Yoon since he took office. The Democratic administration has also been full of praise for Yoon’s leadership in the IndoPacific and beyond. South Korea has provided Ukraine with about $230 million in non lethal assistance since Russia’s invasion more than 14 months ago. The visit also follows just weeks after scores of highly classified documents were leaked which have complicated relations with allies, including South Korea. The papers viewed by The Associated Press indicate that South Korea’s National Security Council “grappled” with the U.S. in early March over an American request to provide artillery ammunition to Ukraine. The documents, which cited a signals intelligence report, said then-NSC Director Kim Sung-han suggested the possibility of selling the 330,000 rounds of 155 mm munitions to Poland, since getting the ammunition to Ukraine quickly was the United States’ ultimate goal. Seoul has also been supportive on U.S.-led sanctions and export controls targeting Russia since the start of the war. And South Korea has announced plans to invest more than $100 billion in the U.S. since the start of Biden administration, including a new Samsung advanced semiconductor factory in Texas and a Hyundai electrical vehicle plant in Georgia. Yoon in an interview with Reuters last week said that Seoul could potentially extend its support for Ukraine beyond humanitarian and economic aid if that eastern European nation were to face large-scale civilian attack by Russia. “The summit will also celebrate what we’ve been able to do under President Yoon’s leadership since he took over,” Sullivan said. “The ROK is stepping up around the world.” Yoon is the second ally to be honored by Biden with a state visit. French President Emmanuel Macron was honored with a state visit in December.    

A spacecraft around Mars has sent back the most detailed photos yet of the red planet's little moon. The United Arab Emirates' Amal spacecraft flew within 62 miles (100 kilometers) of Deimos last month and the close-up shots were released Monday. Amal — Arabic for Hope — got a two-for-one when Mars photobombed some of the images. It was the closest a spacecraft has been to Deimos in almost a half-century. The spacecraft also observed the little explored far side of the odd-shaped, cratered moon, just 9 miles by 7 miles by 7 miles (15 kilometers by 12 kilometers by 12 kilometers). Mars' other moon, Phobos, is almost double that size and better understood since it orbits much closer to Mars — just 3,700 miles (6,000 kilometers) away, the closest of any planet's moon in our solar system. Deimos' orbit around Mars stretches 14,000 miles (23,000 kilometers) out. That's close to the inner part of the spacecraft's orbit — "which is what made observing Deimos such a compelling idea," said the mission's lead scientist Hessa al-Matroushi. "Phobos has got most of the attention up until now — now it's Deimos' turn!" she added in an email. Al-Matroushi and other scientists with the UAE Space Agency said these new images indicate Deimos is not an asteroid that got captured in Mars' orbit eons ago, the leading theory until now. Instead, they say the the moon appears to be of Martian origin — perhaps from the bigger Martian moon or from Mars itself. The findings were presented Monday at the European Geosciences Union's general assembly in Vienna. Amal will continue to sweep past Deimos this year, but not as closely as the March 10 encounter, according to al-Matroushi. NASA's Viking 2 came within 19 miles (30 kilometers) of Deimos in 1977. Since then, other spacecraft have photographed Deimos but from much farther away. Amal rocketed to Mars on July 19, 2020, one day shy of the 50th anniversary of humanity's first moon landing — Earth's moon, that is — by Apollo 11's Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.  

Global military spending grew for the eighth consecutive year in 2022 to an all-time high of $2.24 trillion, with a sharp rise in Europe, chiefly due to Russian and Ukrainian expenditure, a Swedish think tank said Monday. Spending globally increased by 3.7% in real terms, but military expenditure in Europe was up 13% — its steepest year-on-year increase in at least 30 years, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, or SIPRI, said in a report. Military aid to Ukraine and concerns about a heightened threat from Russia "strongly influenced many other states' spending decisions." The independent Swedish watchdog said that last year, the three largest arms spenders were the United States, China and Russia, who between them accounted for 56% of global expenditure. 'The rise "is a sign that we are living in an increasingly insecure world," said Nan Tian, a researcher with SIPRI's Military Expenditure and Arms Production Program. Several states significantly increased their military spending following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, while others announced plans to raise spending levels over periods of up to a decade. Some of the sharpest increases were seen in countries near Russia: Finland (36 %), Lithuania (27%), Sweden (12%) and Poland (11%). Both Sweden and Finland jointly applied for NATO membership in May 2022, abandoning decades of nonalignment in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. While Finland has been admitted, Sweden's bid to join NATO remains stalled by opposition from Turkey and Hungary. "While the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 certainly affected military spending decisions in 2022, concerns about Russian aggression have been building for much longer," said Lorenzo Scarazzato, a researcher with SIPRI's Military Expenditure and Arms Production Program. "Many former Eastern bloc states have more than doubled their military spending since 2014, the year when Russia annexed Crimea." Russia also has increased its military spending. SIPRI said that grew by an estimated 9.2% in 2022, to around $86.4 billion. That is equivalent to 4.1% of Russia's gross domestic product in 2022, up from 3.7% the previous year. Established in 1966, SIPRI is an international institute dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament.  

A magnitude 7.1 quake struck in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean on Monday but did not appear to generate a tsunami. The quake struck near the Kermadec Islands about 900 kilometers (560 miles) northeast of New Zealand's North Island at a depth of 49 kilometers (30 miles), according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the quake posed no threat to Hawaii and the wider Pacific. A localized potential for a tsunami passed without any confirmed impact. New Zealand's National Emergency Management Agency said it was assessing whether the quake could affect New Zealand but gave its standard advice for people to move away from coastal areas if they felt a long or strong quake. The Kermadec Islands are uninhabited except for Raoul Island where New Zealand scientists sometimes stay over to carry out meteorological observations or weed control work. The islands are the site of frequent large earthquakes. They were geologically formed from a ridge that rose from the ongoing collision between the Pacific and Australian tectonic plates.

 Police enforced a curfew in a community on the southern fringes of Jamaica’s capital Saturday after gunmen fired on people boarding a public minibus, wounding seven, including three children. The Jamaica Constabulary Force gave no information on the conditions of the wounded from the brazen attack, which occurred at midafternoon Friday in Seaview Gardens, a poor area of Kingston. There was speculation the gunmen were targeting one of the people trying to get on the bus, but authorities did not comment on a possible motive. Conflict among rival gangs has been blamed for an uptick in violence in the community. Authorities ordered a two-day curfew in Seaview Gardens, and police said they were looking for two men for questioning about the shooting. Crime statistics released by the police say 303 people were killed on the island in the first three months of this year, 20% fewer than during the same period of 2022.

American forces carried out a precarious evacuation of U.S. embassy personnel in Sudan, President Joe Biden said late Saturday, calling for the end to “unconscionable” violence there as two rival leaders battled for power in the African country. Biden thanked the U.S. troops who carried out the mission to extract American staffers in Sudan. With the last American embassy worker out, Washington shuttered the U.S. mission in Khartoum indefinitely. The U.S. said it had no current plans for a government-coordinated evacuation of an estimated 16,000 other Americans remaining in Sudan, calling the situation too dangerous. Biden said he was receiving regular reports from his team on efforts to assist those remaining Americans in Sudan “to the extent possible.” The roughly 70 American staffers were airlifted from a landing zone at the embassy to an undisclosed location in Ethiopia, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the mission. U.S. troops carried out the operation as fighting between two armed Sudanese commanders —which has killed more than 400, put the nation at risk of collapse and could have consequences far beyond its borders—moved into a second week. “I am proud of the extraordinary commitment of our Embassy staff, who performed their duties with courage and professionalism and embodied America’s friendship and connection with the people of Sudan,” Biden said in a statement. “I am grateful for the unmatched skill of our service members who successfully brought them to safety.” Biden ordered American troops to evacuate embassy personnel after receiving a recommendation earlier Saturday from his national security team with no end in sight to the fighting. “This tragic violence in Sudan has already cost the lives of hundreds of innocent civilians. It’s unconscionable and it must stop,” Biden said. “The belligerent parties must implement an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, allow unhindered humanitarian access, and respect the will of the people of Sudan.” The State Department has suspended operations at the embassy due to the dire security situation. It was not clear when the embassy might resume functioning. “The widespread fighting has caused significant numbers of civilian deaths and injuries and damage to essential infrastructure and posed an unacceptable risk to our Embassy personnel,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. The fighting erupted April 15 between two factions whose leaders are vying for control over the country. The violence has included an unprovoked attack on an American diplomatic convoy and numerous incidents in which foreign diplomats and aid workers were killed, injured or assaulted. An estimated 16,000 private U.S. citizens are registered with the embassy as being in Sudan. Biden said he was receiving regular reports from his team on efforts to assist those remaining Americans in Sudan “to the extent possible.” The embassy issued an alert earlier Saturday cautioning that “due to the uncertain security situation in Khartoum and closure of the airport, it is not currently safe to undertake a U.S. government-coordinated evacuation of private U.S. citizens.” Fighting in Sudan between forces loyal to two top generals has put that nation at risk of collapse and could have consequences far beyond its borders. The fighting, which began as Sudan attempted to transition to democracy, already has left millions trapped in urban areas, sheltering from gunfire, explosions and looters. Army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan said Saturday he would facilitate the evacuation of American, British, Chinese and French citizens and diplomats from Sudan after speaking with the leaders of several countries that had requested help. The rival Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, in a Twitter posting said it cooperated with U.S. forces. The U.S. evacuation planning got underway in earnest on Monday after the embassy convoy was attacked in Khartoum. The Pentagon confirmed on Friday that U.S. troops were being moved to Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti ahead of a possible evacuation. Saudi Arabia announced the successful repatriation of some of its citizens on Saturday, sharing footage of Saudi nationals and other foreigners welcomed with chocolate and flowers as they stepped off an apparent evacuation ship at the Saudi port of Jeddah. Embassy evacuations conducted by the U.S. military are relatively rare and usually take place only under extreme conditions. When it orders an embassy to draw down staff or suspend operations, the State Department prefers to have its personnel leave on commercial transportation if that is an option. When the embassy in Kyiv temporarily closed just before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, 2022, staffers used commercial transport to leave. However, in several other recent cases, notably in Afghanistan in 2021, conditions made commercial departures impossible or extremely hazardous. U.S. troops accompanied personnel from the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli, Libya, in an overland convoy to Tunisia when they evacuated in 2014.