US and British troops are being moved close to Sudan amid growing speculation they could be involved in some sort of evacuation or rescue of western nationals trapped in the country by the outbreak of fighting a week ago.
Lloyd Austin, the US defence secretary, said on Friday afternoon that the US had deployed military forces “in theatre” – meaning in countries relatively close to Sudan – to give the White House choices as to how to proceed, with 19,000 US citizens estimated as being stuck in the country.
