UK troops to take over Sudan airfield as evacuation flights gather pace
Three flights carrying British nationals are due to have left war-torn Khartoum by Wednesday morning.
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Your support makes all the difference.The first evacuation flights carrying British nationals have taken off from Sudan as UK troops prepare to take over the running of the airfield.
Two Royal Air Force planes have landed at Larnaca Airport in Cyprus as of 6.30am on Wednesday, with the first charter flight back to London set to depart later in the day.
Families with young children were among those on the first flights that landed in Cyprus with a British man telling the BBC that his sister, who left Sudan overnight, felt an overwhelming sense of relief.
Three planes were due to have left conflict-torn Khartoum for Cyprus by Wednesday morning, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledging āmany moreā would follow as he warned of a ācriticalā 24 hours.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the UK would take charge of the Wadi Saeedna airstrip near the capital from German forces, after Berlin said its final evacuation flight would leave on Tuesday night.
He said 120 British troops have already been supporting the operation there.
Around 260 people were expected to be flown out overnight on three flights, the first landing on Tuesday evening with around 40 people on board.
British nationals have been told to make their own way to the site with some fearing they will not make it due to a petrol shortage.
The UK military could be ready to use force if needed to protect the air base in the event it comes under attack during the airlift, although the troops are primarily there to help with logistics, the i paper reported.
Mr Wallace told LBC Radio: āThe Germans are leaving tomorrow, and we will take over the facilitation at the airfield.
āAnd the reason the Germans are leaving is people have stopped coming in large numbers.ā
He said only one nation can facilitate the airfield at a time, adding: āIf the Spanish or the Italians or anyone else wants to fly, weāll be the ones giving permissions effectively.ā
There is āsome risk that some of the planes are not full,ā he said, as there are ānot thousands at the gateā as in the evacuation from Afghanistan.
The Government is considering other options, including a possible seaborne evacuation from Port Sudan, some 500 miles from the capital.
HMS Lancaster and the RFA Cardigan Bay have been sent to the region.
Announcing the completion of Germanyās evacuation efforts, the countryās foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said Berlin would not leave civilians āto their own devicesā, in an apparent swipe at the UKās approach.
She said that āunlike in other countriesā, Germanyās evacuation had included all its nationals and not just embassy staff.
Thereāll be constant flights within the next few days, but if I canāt find gas to get there, then Iām stuck
Mr Sunak defended the UKās efforts, saying it was ārightā that diplomats were prioritised ābecause they were being targetedā.
āThe security situation on the ground in Sudan is complicated, it is volatile and we wanted to make sure we could put in place processes that are going to work for people, that are going to be safe and effective,ā the Prime Minister said at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) crisis centre.
He told teams working on the evacuation efforts that āthe next 24 hours are absolutely criticalā.
The mission was launched during a ceasefire brokered between the warring factions. But Foreign Secretary James Cleverly warned the extraction of UK nationals is āinherently dangerousā as āwe cannot be sure for how long it will holdā.
A UK-born student attempting to flee Sudan said she does not have enough petrol to make the dangerous one-hour drive from the outskirts of Khartoum to the airstrip.
āIām trying to get there. But the problem is the vehicles that we have have no gas, and the petrol stations are empty,ā Samar Eltayeb, 20, from Birmingham, told the PA news agency.
āThereāll be constant flights within the next few days, but if I canāt find gas to get there, then Iām stuck.ā
More than 2,000 British citizens have registered in Sudan with the FCDO.
Families with children or elderly relatives, or individuals with medical conditions, will be prioritised for the flights.
Only British passport holders and immediate family members with existing UK entry clearance are being told they are eligible.
Nationals have been warned all travel within Sudan is āconducted at your own riskā.