New Yorkers react to the conflict and 72-hour cease-fire in Sudan
The ongoing conflict in Sudan has captured national headlines, but it is also affecting people in our area.
The U.S. brokered a 72-hour cease-fire in Sudan on Monday. The cease-fire is meant to allow families a chance to escape the fighting and give the U.S. a chance to get more Americans out safely.
Over the weekend, a dangerous nighttime rescue mission, was carried out with no shots fired and no casualties. An elite Navy SEAL Team Six, using three chinook helicopters, rescued around 100 embassy staffers and their families in the besieged capital of Khartoum.
Some of them are already headed back to Washington.
Sudanese New Yorkers watching the fighting are worried about family and friends.
Like Jalal Al Eltayeib, who's now lived in the U.S. for 30 years and runs a business in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
"Nobody was expecting it... it was a surprise for a lot of people," Jalal Ali Eltayeib said.
He has a brother and other family members near Khartoum.
"They are frightened. It's sad. It hurts," he said.
The civil war in Sudan has two rival generals fighting for control. More than 400 people have been killed. At least another 4,000 people have been injured.
"This is the most helpless we've ever felt," said Yasmin Ali. Ali is a member of the Sudanese American Society.
Despite that successful evacuation of U.S. embassy personnel, more than 16,000 Americans are still in the area that has seen some of the intense fighting.
The hope is that the cease fire will allow Americans who want to leave, to be able to make that dangerous 500-mile journey from Khartoum to Port Sudan, which some are now doing in UN convoys.
But the Pentagon says there are no plans for any mass evacuations of Americans.
----------
* Get Eyewitness News Delivered
* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts
Submit a tip or story idea to Eyewitness News
Have a breaking news tip or an idea for a story we should cover? Send it to Eyewitness News using the form below. If attaching a video or photo, terms of use apply.
