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The United States is preparing to send a large number of additional troops to its base in Djibouti in case of an eventual evacuation from Sudan, a U.S. official said as renewed heavy gunfire erupted on Thursday.

The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, declined to elaborate.

Forces commanded by two previously allied leaders of Sudan‘s ruling council began a violent power struggle last weekend that has so far killed more than 410 people including at least 10 children.

An international push for a temporary truce to allow civilians to reach safety and visit family over the three-day Muslim holiday of Eid al Fitr has so far failed. Foreign nations including the United States, Japan, South Korea, Germany, and Spain have been unable to evacuate their citizens.

“We are deploying additional capabilities nearby in the region for contingency purposes related to securing and potentially facilitating the departure of U.S. Embassy personnel from Sudan if circumstances require it,” the Pentagon said in a statement.

White House spokesperson John Kirby said President Joe Biden ordered the pre-positioning of military forces to be ready, adding that Biden was closely following developments.

Kirby added that there are no indications Americans are being targeted, but that it was a dangerous situation.

‘No decision has been made’ – WH Security spox Kirby on evacuation from #Sudan as #Pentagon deploys troops to Djibouti pic.twitter.com/SzScWuqC30

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The best thing that can happen is for the two sides to lay down arms, abide by the ceasefire and let humanitarian aid get to the people in Khartoum, Kirby said.

The State Department previously told U.S. citizens in Sudan to remain sheltered in place indoors.

A State Department spokesperson said Washington does not provide numbers of U.S. citizens living in or traveling to a particular country and for security reasons declined to say how many embassy staff are in Sudan.

The fiercest battles between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been around Khartoum, one of Africa’s largest urban areas, and in Darfur, still scarred by a brutal conflict that ended three years ago.

Sudan‘s military ruler, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, heads a ruling council installed after the 2021 military coup and the 2019 ouster of veteran autocrat Omar al-Bashir. RSF leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, widely known as Hemedti, who analysts say may command more than 100,000 fighters, was his deputy on the council and is now leading the opposition.

The latest violence was triggered by disagreement over an internationally backed plan to form a new civilian government. Both sides accuse the other of thwarting the transition.

A group of four countries known as the Quad – the United States, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia – have pushed international efforts to find a political solution in Sudan, along with the United Nations, the African Union and African trade bloc IGAD.

The United Nations says the fighting has also created a humanitarian catastrophe as it is causing people to starve as the country is largely reliant on foreign aid.

“Sudan already has one of the highest rates of malnutrition among children in the world,” UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told reporters. “And now critical life-saving care for an estimated 50,000 severely acutely malnourished children has been disrupted. This is life threatening.”

Sudan has been a focus of U.S. diplomatic efforts in Africa as Washington works to counter Russian influence in the country and the wider region. Russia is investing in gold mining in Sudan and has been trying to finalize an agreement to establish a naval base on Sudan‘s Red Sea coast.

Copyright 2023 Thomson/Reuters