By BRETT BRUEN

Brett Bruen is a former US diplomat, who served on the frontlines of crises from Africa to the Middle East, and served as the Obama Administration's Director of Global Engagement at the White House

President Joe Biden needs to send U.S. forces back to Sudan and save the Americans he left behind – and he needs to do it today.

Right now, Africa's third-largest country is teetering on the edge of bloody chaos.

On Tuesday, new fighting tested a tenuous three-day truce, brokered by the U.S., between two heavily armed groups led by rival Sudanese generals.

Hundreds have been killed and there's no telling if this latest cease-fire will hold.

Over the weekend, the U.S. military bravely evacuated our diplomats from the U.S. embassy in Khartoum.

As a former diplomat, I feel an incredible sense of pride in our armed forces. Yet, I was horrified to learn that thousands of our fellow citizens didn't make it out.

They were abandoned by their government, while much smaller nations, like Spain and Saudi Arabia, were able to get their civilians to safety.

It is a bitter irony that today, as Biden announces his bid to again represent some 330 million Americans as president, some 16,000 are stranded inside this troubled East African nation.

In lieu of rescue, Americans are behind advised to undertake a treacherous trek - on their own - across a 500-mile battlefield to Port Sudan.