Nearly 1,000 Americans have left Sudan with the help of their government after fighting broke out between the army and paramilitaries, the State Department said on Sunday, adding that a second convoy had arrived in Port Sudan, on the Red Sea.

“As part of a multinational effort, the US government, in coordination with allies and partners [της]facilitated the departure of nearly 1,000 American citizens from Sudan after the violence began,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on Twitter.

He explained that a second convoy organized by Washington had arrived in the coastal city of Port Sudan, where civilians fleeing in a hurry can board ships to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. A first operation of this nature was conducted on Saturday.

The US diplomat also referred to a “diplomatic effort and ongoing communication to reach the fewer than 5,000 US citizens who have sought advice” from their government.

Millions of Sudanese have been caught between shelling and fire since a merciless power struggle broke out on April 15 between the forces of the head of the armed forces, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the second-in-command of the military regime, General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. or “Khameti”, leader of the highly feared Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Fighting continued in Khartoum yesterday, even as the army and paramilitaries announced an extension to a ceasefire that has generally not been kept.

Faced with the “unprecedented” situation in Sudan, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is sending the agency’s top humanitarian official, Martin Griffiths, to the region “immediately,” his spokesman said.