i m jim acosta in washington will be in this hour of americans caught up in the escalating crisis in sudan. just minutes ago, the u. s state department announced it will carry out a military assisted evacuation of government personnel if the crisis worsens . in the past week, more than 400 people have died since two rival generals first lead their forces into a battle for control of the country. that death toll includes at least one american. both sudan s army and its paramilitary rival. the rsf say they will help evacuate for nationals. the u. s is making preparations to get diplomatic personnel right out right now. but the white house says private citizens should not expect and evacuation. we have correspondents in the military expert here to help us tackle all of the angles of the story. let s begin with cnn s larry meadow, a live in nairobi, kenya. larry. i know things are very fluid at the moment. but what s the latest on these evacuations? jim right now there s evacuati
i m jim acosta in washington will be in this hour of americans caught up in the escalating crisis in sudan. just minutes ago, the u. s state department announced it will carry out a military assisted evacuation of government personnel if the crisis worsens . in the past week, more than 400 people have died since two rival generals first lead their forces into a battle for control of the country. that death toll includes at least one american. both sudan s army and its paramilitary rival. the rsf say they will help evacuate for nationals. the u. s is making preparations to get diplomatic personnel right out right now. but the white house says private citizens should not expect and evacuation. we have correspondents in the military expert here to help us tackle all of the angles of the story. let s begin with cnn s larry meadow, a live in nairobi, kenya. larry. i know things are
guests heard gunfire and explosions coming from inside. i saw bullets on the floor in the lobby. reporter: a chinese tourist shot this video from a window of the hotel as mali security forces surrounded the building. with the help of u.n. troops, they launched a counterassault to rescue the hostages. at least two u.s. military personnel assisted outside the hotel. about a dozen americans were rescued. by late afternoon, all of the hostages had been freed or escaped. and robin joins us live in nairobi, kenya, covering the story. good to have you with us. just to give context, an al qaeda affiliate has claimed responsibility. al qaeda has mainly been active in the northern part of the country. are malians authorities getting help from outside the country to deal with the terrorism that is gripping the north?
a lot of questions about how it was that these attackers were able to rent out that store for an entire year, also giving us an idea of how sophisticated this attack potentially was. it s also raising questions as to whether or not the attackers were able to smuggle weapons into the mall prior to the attack taking place. of course, a lot of concern right now about more threats coming from al shabaab. a lot of people very worried, wanting to know what kind of plan the kenyan government and the security forces here have to prevent this kind of a security lapse from taking place once again. very distressing, those pictures are just remarkable. arwa damon live in nairobi, thank you. i want to check other top stories we re following as well today. two former cantaloupe farmers are facing federal charges that are tied to the deadliest outbreak of food-borne illness in decades. at least 33 people died after eating cantaloupe tainted with