Brits race to make it onto final Sudan rescue flights as battles erupt

01 May 2023 , 19:53

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The Foreign Office said 2,197 Brits had been rescued from the civil war. So far, two RAF flights from Port Sudan were due to land in Larnaca, Cyprus, this evening (Image: UK MOD/PA)

The last evacuation flights for Brits fleeing war-torn Sudan have taken off as battles erupted today.

The extra rescue missions left Port Sudan after UK citizens faced a noon deadline to complete a dangerous 500-mile drive from Khartoum.

It came as the MoD released dramatic pictures of the last evacuation flight from Wadi Seidna airbase on Saturday.

As of 5.30pm, dozens more UK nationals were evacuated from Port Sudan, with more expected tonight.

The Foreign Office said 2,197 Brits had been rescued from the civil war. So far, two RAF flights from Port Sudan were due to land in Larnaca, Cyprus, this evening.

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Members of the military are working round the clock to assist UK citizens and others trying to escape war-torn Sudan (PA)

Warship HMS Lancaster is supporting the effort. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: “Yet again the men and women of our armed forces have led the way.”

Flight tracking websites said an RAF Airbus A400M Atlas landed at Port Sudan about 3pm yesterday. According to reports it left shortly after as blast and gunfire broke out near homes in the capital Khartoum.

On Friday, the UK said it was ceasing rescue flights on Saturday as a new 72-hour ceasefire between Sudan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces was rocked by violence.

The UN said the rivals agreed to join peace talks. MoD images showed Brits boarding RAF aircraft on Friday and Saturday at Wadi Seidna airfield near Khartoum.

Evacuees and military personnel at Wadi Seidna airport in Khartoum, Sudan boarding an RAF aircraft bound for Cyprus (UK MOD/PA)

A soldier, of the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, was seen caring for a child.

Meanwhile, the Government agreed to include NHS doctors without UK passports on the last flights amid criticism over the scope of the evacuation.

Flights had been limited to British nationals and immediate family.

Sudan officials said at least 530 people, including civilians, have been killed in the war, with 4,500 wounded.

But the toll, feared to be much higher, has not been updated for the past week.

Chris Hughes