US abandons Chad embassy [View All]

Source: AP

WASHINGTON (AP) - The United States has abandoned its embassy in Chad, evacuating all but four diplomats who are now stationed at the N'Djamena airport amid heavy fighting between government forces and rebels in the capital.

The downtown embassy, which was hit by indirect fire during weekend clashes, is now vacant and unprotected and the State Department on Monday warned the rebels not to enter the compound, which remains sovereign U.S. territory.

. . .

The rebels arrived on the capital's outskirts Friday after a three-day push across the desert from Chad's eastern border with Sudan and the situation in N'Djamena deteriorated over the weekend to the point where the State Department ordered several dozen nonessential U.S. embassy staff and their families to leave the country.

. . .

The State Department has urged U.S. citizens to leave Chad, and officials said a little under 100 of the roughly 500 registered with the embassy have gone. Without any personnel at its embassy, the State Department has set up two telephone numbers to report the presence and whereabouts of Americans in Chad.

However, on Sunday, the department said its ability to help Americans in Chad was «extremely limited» and asked those who wished to be evacuated to «prepare to depart immediately and identify themselves to the French military, who will retrieve American citizens to escort them to the airport.

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