Sudan war: government says evacuation effort from warzone 'extremely successful', but UK mission not over yet

Good morning, the UK is to begin evacuating British nationals from Sudan today after a three-day ceasefire was agreed, Claire Schofield reports.

Military flights will depart from an airfield outside the capital, Khartoum and priority will be given to the most vulnerable, including families with children, the elderly and people with medical conditions.

Cleverly told citizens not to travel there unless they are contacted and warned the ability to carry out evacuations could change at short notice during the “volatile” truce.

He said: “The UK government is co-ordinating an evacuation of British nationals from Sudan. We have started contacting nationals directly and providing routes for departure out of the country.”

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Britain will work to “end the bloodshed” in Sudan and support a democratic government, Claire Schofield reports. He added: “The government has begun a large-scale evacuation of British passport holders from Sudan on RAF flights. Priority will be given to the most vulnerable, including families with children and the elderly.

“I pay tribute to the British Armed Forces, diplomats and Border Force staff carrying out this complex operation.”

Only British passport holders and immediate family members with existing UK entry clearance were being told they are eligible, Claire Schofield reports. Nationals have been warned that all travel within Sudan is “conducted at your own risk”.

The Foreign Office said other exit routes are being considered, with two British military ships – RFA Cardigan Bay and HMS Lancaster – being lined up for possible evacuations. A team of British troops is understood to have flown into Port Sudan to check out the options.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken announced that a three-day ceasefire had been brokered. It would extend a nominal truce over Ramadan that did little to stop fighting but did facilitate some evacuations.

The UK’s former ambassador to Sudan has warned the situation in the country is “precarious”, Claire Schofield reports.

Sir Nicholas Kay told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think we have to underline that it’s precarious. The security situation can change very quickly. The command and control over forces isn’t complete.

“There is no trust between the two sides and things might kick off again. So, very difficult. The geography of Khartoum makes it also very difficult, and this is one of the challenges throughout. The river Nile joins, Blue Nile and White Nile, in the centre of Khartoum.

“So there’s a lot of bridges that need to be crossed to get around the city, and each of those bridges is controlled by one of the armed groups. So moving around Khartoum can be challenging.”

The Associated Press (AP) has spoken to people in Sudan who have suggested that the 72 hour ceasefire between the country's military and rival group Rapid Support Forces is not holding universally.

Amin Ishaq, a resident of Omdurman, a city across the Nile River from Khartoum, told AP there were clashes early on Tuesday (25 April) around the state television headquarters, as well as around military bases just outside Omdurman.

“They did not stop fighting,” he said. “They stop only when they run out of ammunition.”

Meanwhile, Atiya Abdalla Atiya, Secretary of the Doctors' Syndicate, told AP that "sounds of gunfire, explosions, and flying warplanes" are still being heard across Khartoum. “They don’t respect ceasefires," she said.

A "well-placed source" has told the BBC that the airlifting of British nationals from a military base north of Khartoum is likely to begin in the next few hours.

According to the source, UK citizens are being told to "make your own way" to the airbase in a carefully "caveated" message. "It has got to be the individual’s decision," the message reportedly reads. "Once you get to the location, we will hopefully get you on a flight a soon as possible."

The source also told the BBC there was no sign that the warring parties were deliberately targeting foreign nationals. They said there was co-operation between foreign governments, rather than a "sharp-elbowed" approach to the evacuations.

Currently, British officials are looking at a 24 hour window for the airlifts - but that could be extended, depending on whether the new ceasefire holds.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has defended the government from allegations it has acted too slowly in starting evacuations of British nationals from Sudan.

Cleverly told broadcasters: “The circumstances for each individual nation are different. There are considerably more British nationals in Sudan than other countries have got.”

He also warned that the situation in Sudan remained volatile, despite the ceasefire: “This is an active conflict. The ceasefire has been announced but we know there have been pockets of violence even within previous ceasefires.

“So this does remain dangerous, this does remain difficult. We are providing what assistance we can and we are operating as quickly as we can.”

It is understood that Britons will need to make their own way to the airbase where the evacuation is being launched, without an escort.

Sky News reports that a British C130 Hercules plane has landed at an airfield just outside Sudan's capital city Khartoum.

Reporter Alistair Bunkall, who was speaking to presenter Kay Burley from RAF Akrotiri, said he had been told it had landed just before 9.13am with another plane still in the air.

He added however: “That won’t be enough by a long way to extract the 4,000 British nationals if they want to get out."

The Guardian previously reported that a C130 Hercules can hold about 120 people.

According to one estimate, there could be up to 4,000 British nationals stranded in Sudan, my colleague Alex Nelson reports.

Alicia Kearns, the Tory chairwoman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I suspect that we are well over a thousand who wish to be evacuated. Sometimes these are large families. I suspect we could be looking at 3,000, 4,000 plus.”

British tourism in Sudan is relatively limited due to the country's political and security situation, and the UK government advises against all travel to certain areas of Sudan, and all but essential travel to the rest of the country.

However, for those who do choose to travel to Sudan, there are a few tourist attractions that may be of interest, such as the ancient pyramids at Meroe and the historic city of Khartoum, where visitors can see landmarks such as the confluence of the Blue and White Nile rivers and the Mahdi's Tomb.

It's worth noting that Sudan is not a mainstream tourist destination and does not have the same level of infrastructure and amenities as other popular tourist destinations.

As such, the majority of those British nationals currently stuck in Sudan will be those who have chosen to live in the country.

The reasons for emigrating to Sudan vary depending on the individual, but some common reasons include working for international organisations, such as the United Nations or non-governmental organisations (NGOs), or for British companies with operations in Sudan.

Some may also have family or personal connections to the country. In recent years, Sudan has also been a destination for aid workers and refugees fleeing conflict and instability in neighbouring countries.

An RAF C-130 transport carrier has been seen on flight trackers leaving an airbase north of the Sudanese capital, apparently ferrying evacuees to the UK’s Akrotiri airfield in Cyprus.

Around 2,000 citizens having registered with the Foreign Office to be evacuated.