The Biden administration has authorized the military to prepare for a possible evacuation of the U.S. embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, as rival factions ramp up fighting in the African country.

The Pentagon is moving troops and equipment to a naval base in the small country of Djibouti — around 1,000 miles southeast of Khartoum — to prepare for a rescue mission, according to two Biden administration officials, the Associated Press reported. An American embassy convoy was attacked in the streets of Khartoum earlier this week, and embassy staff remains caught in the middle of a raging conflict that broke out in the country’s capital last week.

“There’s no indication that either side is deliberately going after or trying to hurt or target Americans,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. “But it’s obviously a dangerous situation.”

Over the weekend, hundreds of civilians and paramilitary forces were killed or injured in a series of airstrikes in Khartoum, as the Sudanese army bombed positions held by a rival military force in a power struggle that some international observers fear could ignite a full-blown civil war.

Deputy State Department spokesman Vedant Patel confirmed Thursday that all American embassy personnel were safe, but said that under the current conditions, it is not safe to attempt an evacuation, the AP reported. There are around 70 Americans at the embassy in Sudan’s capital. There are also an estimated 16,000 private U.S. citizens currently in the country, but the State Department said that number is likely inaccurate since it only includes Americans who registered with the embassy.

Thousands of people have already fled the capital city, and Japan and Tanzania have also said they are working on getting their embassy personnel out of Sudan. The Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces agreed to a humanitarian ceasefire on Tuesday, but the agreement failed as fighting broke out within minutes of the supposed agreement, according to the BBC. Another ceasefire was agreed upon on Wednesday, but gunfire could still be heard throughout the city.

Mohammed Alamin, a journalist based in Khartoum, told the BBC, “It’s really horrible — these warring parties are firing randomly everywhere. I saw, myself, hundreds of people going outside Khartoum, rushing to travel to the neighboring states.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP

The Biden administration’s preparation to evacuate Americans from Sudan comes less than two years after its botched attempt to evacuate Americans and U.S. allies from Afghanistan. During the U.S. withdrawal from Kabul in August 2021, 13 U.S. service members and over 100 Afghans were killed when a member of the Taliban detonated an explosive at the Kabul airport.

Michael Whittaker contributed to this report.

Hollywood great Al Pacino opened up about the movie role he said he regrets not doing as he jokingly took a dig at Harrison Ford — who he said has never thanked him for landing the part in “Star Wars” that would launch his career.

During the 82-year-old actor’s recent appearance with David Rubenstein for the 92NY’s “People Who Inspire Us” series, Pacino said there’s only one role he regrets to this day turning down and it’s George Lucas’ 1977 monster film, the Hollywood Reporter reported.

“I turned down ‘Star Wars,'” Pacino said. “When I first came up, I was the new kid on the block, you know what happens when you first become famous.”

“So I was there and all of a sudden they gave me a script that was called ‘Star Wars,'” he added. “I said, ‘I got the script, they offered me so much money, but I don’t understand it.'”

Al Pacino Recalls Turning Down ‘Star Wars’ Despite ‘So Much Money,’ Jokes: ‘I Gave Harrison Ford a Career’ https://t.co/AdmLn9CcKL

— Variety (@Variety) April 20, 2023

The “Scent of a Woman” star said he decided eventually to turn it down for that reason, before he joked, “I gave Harrison Ford a career, which he has never thanked me for!”

At one point in the hour-long chat, the “Scarface” star was also asked if he thinks the original 1972 gangster movie “The Godfather” is “superior” to the second one “The Godfather Part II” released in 1974.

“No, I don’t,” Pacino said. “I really think it’s more — what would you call it — artistic or something, I don’t know. I don’t mean to play it down and be overly modest because I star in it with Bob de Niro, but at the same time, it’s a different film.”

“You see, ‘The Godfather is more entertaining,'” he added. “Godfather II is this study, this personal thing for Francis [Ford Coppola],” he added. “Godfather I, I saw it recently, it’s always got two or three things going on in a scene. You’re always in the story, you’re going.”

“You don’t know what’s going to happen next, it’s storytelling, it’s really storytelling at its best,” “The Devils Advocate” star continued. “Godfather II sort of linearizes, and [it’s] kind of different, somber, moves slowly. But it’s a great movie, I have to say.”