Biden Admin Aids US Citizens Leaving Sudan; Confirms 2nd American Fatality

The White House announced on Wednesday that a second American has died in Sudan due to ongoing clashes and that the Biden administration is assisting a small number of US citizens in leaving the country.

According to Reuters, John Kirby, the White House national security spokesperson, stated that the US government is working with both sides of the Sudan conflict to strengthen the ceasefire and enable more humanitarian aid.

Kirby also said President Biden had requested all options to help as many Americans as possible. The White House is also reporting that some US citizens have arrived in Port Sudan to flee from the country.

According to Kirby, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has dispatched personnel to the region and is prepared to offer humanitarian aid.

The White House's remarks came after combat erupted between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary group on the outskirts of Khartoum, the country's capital, despite an 11-day ceasefire.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) is evaluating the danger posed to public health after militants occupied a national laboratory in Khartoum holding samples of deadly diseases.

Al Jazeera reported that WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed concerns that the individuals holding the research facility could be accidentally exposed to the pathogens stored there.

Ex-Sudanese Minister Ahmed Charged With War Crimes Charges Freed From Jail

In other news, Ahmed Haroun, a former high-ranking member of the National Congress Party of Sudan who the International Criminal Court accused of committing over 40 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, was recently released from a Khartoum jail as per a CNN report.

Haroun was accused of committing these crimes in Darfur in the early 2000s while holding the positions of Sudan's State Minister for the Interior and State Minister for Humanitarian Affairs.

The chaos that erupted in Kober prison led Haroun to leave prison, where prisoners protested a lack of food and water, burning two cars inside the facility.