U.S. Evacuates Embassy in South Sudan

As warring factions continue to plunge the young country into chaos

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The United States ordered more of its embassy staff in South Sudan to evacuate Friday and urged U.S. citizens to leave the country as fighting rages between rebels and forces loyal to the government.

In a travel advisory, the State Department said it will stop providing consular services to Americans in South Sudan as of Saturday and asked U.S. citizens to arrive at the airport in the capital Juba by 8 a.m. for an “evacuation flight arranged by the Department of State to the nearest safe haven country.”

Violence between the government of President Salva Kiir and rebel forces loyal to former vice president Riek Machar has displaced an estimated 180,000 people across the country, the New York Times reports. Preliminary talks in advance of formal negotiations to end the violence are said to be underway in neighboring Ethiopia.