A day after abandoning a rescue mission because of incoming fire, American citizens were safely airlifted from Bor, South Sudan, on Sunday.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement:

"U.S. citizens and citizens from our partner nations were flown from Bor to Juba on U.N. and U.S. civilian helicopters. The United States and the United Nations, which has the lead for securing Bor airport in South Sudan, took steps to ensure fighting factions were aware these flights were a humanitarian mission.

"The U.S. government is doing everything possible to ensure the safety and security of United States citizens in South Sudan. We are working with our allies around the world to connect with and evacuate U.S. citizens as quickly and safely as possible. For their safety and security, we will not outline specific evacuation plans."

Psaki said that so far about 380 American officials and private citizens and 300 foreign nationals have been airlifted from the country.

As we've reported, South Sudan was thrown into chaos when the president accused the vice president of attempting a coup.

On Saturday, three CV-22 Ospreys were hit by fire as they approached Bor. Four service members were injured and the evacuation mission was aborted.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.