Americans are trapped and in grave danger in Khartoum, Sudan because of the war there. According to American expats on the ground in Khartoum, our State Department and the American embassy are all but ignoring pleas for evacuation. A friend of the family of an American working (their father) in Khartoum contacted UncoverDC on Tuesday, April 18. UncoverDC then contacted the father's children, his son, and his daughter. The father, whom we will call "Joe" for the purposes of this article, has witnessed "wheelbarrows and SUVs filled with dead bodies" and "corpses in the street." Joe wishes to remain anonymous because he believes he is in imminent danger. Joe told his son he has heard stories of people being severely beaten and then carted off for speaking up.
As of April 20, 2023, Joe told his son there is "boiled water only, no internet, and 70% of medical facilities are shut down." This column represents a first-hand account with photos of the conflict raging in Khartoum. Joe reports casualties are far greater than what is being reported by legacy media or the American government.
On Thursday, ABC News reported the first American casualty in Sudan. There seem to be no firm plans to evacuate Americans living and working there. The daughter told UncoverDC on Friday that there has been "no response from state rep. No response that is of any value from anyone and we have certainly been reaching out. Same response to hunker down and stay away from windows. They’ve been pushed into the basement at this point but haven’t heard updates from my dad for the last few hours."
Joe spoke with an embassy official early in the week of April 17. The official's only advice was to "shelter in place." The screenshot on the left was written by Joe's son to the embassy official. No response as of Friday. The screenshot on the right is an email from a friend of the family who contacted his AZ state representative. He has yet to receive a response. UncoverDC emailed the same official at the American Embassy in Sudan for clarification on American State Department plans to keep American ex-pats out of harm's way, or better, to aid in their immediate evacuation. No response as of Friday morning.
Pleas Ignored by Officials
The war in Khartoum is essentially a coup, with two military forces who used to be allies fighting for control. One of the forces is Sudan's army and the other is a paramilitary unit known as the Rapid Support Forces or the RSF. According to Joe, the local people there view both military forces "as wholly untrained to manage a country. Yet, the leaders of both armies are in charge of diplomacy, taxes," and other important services. UncoverDC has acquired photos of the conflict taken by the father from his apartment and various other vantage points around the city. They are viewable in the gallery linked below.
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These photos were sent to UncoverDC on Friday morning taken by students of the local high school:
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Late Thursday night, the son sent a photo via Joe of a structure right across the street from where Joe was sheltered. Joe reported the structure was being bombed by an RPG and people were on fire fleeing the building. Please keep in mind many of the photos are of poor quality because in many cases Americans are either using mirrors to take photos or they are quickly grabbing photos from dark spaces in hopes no one will see them documenting events.
RPG Hit/Khartoum
Joe reported late Thursday that "anti-air is ten feet away, strategically placed by residences and apartments to discourage return fire."
The family reports the following from Joe who is now in a basement somewhere in Khartoum:
Joe was hired in August 2022. He was told by his hiring supervisor that Sudan had "come a long way and the different factions there were working together." He was also assured at the time that "there was an old marine base nearby, that U.S. Army personnel may have access to if they ever wanted American security. He was unable to confirm where exactly this location was." Joe's son sent his father's words to UncoverDC on April 20. The son's description of his father's story is pictured below. Some information has been removed to protect Joe's identity and whereabouts:
Father to son/American trapped in Sudan
Joe also reported the following to his son:
"[For] the past 2 days, the embassy has continued telling the Americans to shelter in place. They state that there is no plan for extraction planned. Today an insulting message came to my dad telling him the only instructions from the embassy were to stay away from windows, and secure water from locals." Joe also told his son that his "co-workers continue to receive photos and horror stories of families [they know] whose children are being shredded by bullets, taken as brothel meat, or smashed after being pulled from inside of a collapsed structure.
As a small bright spot in this mess, today is the end of Ramadan. A 6-year-old boy carrying a box of cookies was seen knocking on doors to hand out treats to celebrate Ramadan ending. The boy was emaciated and wearing tattered clothing. He did not speak good enough English to say whether his parents were around or alive."
UncoverDC will continue to follow and report on this story with the hope that it can prompt the Biden administration to help Joe and other American ex-pats return safely to American soil.
