The United States is sending additional troops to the Sudanese region to facilitate the possible evacuation of its embassy personnel amid fighting between the Sudanese army and militias in Khartoum, the Pentagon announced Thursday, AFP reported.

“We are sending additional forces to the region to secure and facilitate the possible departure of US Embassy personnel from Sudan if circumstances warrant,” the Pentagon said in a statement, which did not specify the number of troops involved.

Deadly fighting has been ongoing for six days between the Sudanese army and paramilitary groups led by two rival generals, particularly in the country’s capital, Khartoum.

More than 300 civilians have been killed since Saturday.

On foot or in cars, on roads littered with corpses and burnt armored vehicles, thousands of Sudanese struggle to make their way through the crossfire between the RSF of General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, known as “Hemedti”, and the army led by General Abdel Fattah al. -Burhane, who has ruled since their joint coup in 2021.

“Life in Khartoum is impossible,” Alawya al-Tayeb, 33, told AFP as he headed south. “I did everything to keep my children from seeing the bodies” because they are “already traumatized.”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday called for a ceasefire for “at least three days” in Sudan to mark the Eid-ul-Fitr celebration that marks the end of the Muslim month of Ramadan.