The United States military is preparing as many options as possible ahead of a possible evacuation from the US embassy in Sudan but no decisions have been made, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Friday.
“We’ve deployed some forces into theater to ensure that we provide as many options as possible if we are called on to do something. And we haven’t been called on to do anything yet,” Austin told a news conference at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
“No decision on anything has been made.”
Reuters reported on Thursday that the United States was sending a large number of additional troops to its base in Djibouti in case of an eventual evacuation from Sudan.
Meanwhile, drone footage showed smoke rising over the Sudanese capital Khartoum and sister city Omdurman, on Friday.
Reuters was able to confirm the location from the buildings, road layout and terrain seen in the videos which matched satellite and terrain imagery of the area.
Reuters was able to verify the date the videos were filmed using complete metadata in the video files.
Gunfire ripped through residential neighborhoods of Khartoum at the start of the Muslim holiday of Eid al Fitr on Friday, after the army deployed on foot for the first time in its almost week-long fight with a paramilitary force.
