US troops are carrying out a precarious evacuation of American embassy staffers in the African nation of Sudan, shuttering the US embassy there as fighting rages for a ninth day, according to a senior Biden administration official. US troops that airlifted embassy staff out of Khartoum have safely left Sudanese airspace, a second US official confirmed.

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, according to the official who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the mission.