Sudan – live: Final evacuation flight for fleeing Britons leaves as violence resumes

Fighting could be heard in Khartoum early on Monday as the United Nations warned of a humanitarian “breaking point”, with rival military forces accusing each other of fresh violations of a ceasefire as their devastating conflict enters a third week.

Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands wounded since a long-simmering power struggle between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted into conflict on April 15.

Violence has rocked the capital Khartoum and risks reawakening war in the vast Western region of Darfur scarred by a two-decade old conflict, despite numerous ceasefire pledges.

Together, the army and RSF toppled a civilian government in an October 2021 coup but are now locked in a power struggle that has derailed an internationally backed transition to democracy and is threatening to destabilise a fragile region.

Both sides said a formal ceasefire agreement which was due to expire at midnight would be extended for a further 72 hours, in a move the RSF said was “in response to international, regional and local calls”.

The army said it hoped what it called the “rebels” would abide by the deal but it believed they had intended to keep up attacks.

At least 528 people have been killed and 4,599 wounded, the health ministry said. The United Nations has reported a similar number of dead but believes the real toll is much higher.

Many fear for their lives as Sudan‘s two most powerful men prosecute war in a country that has faced civil wars, coups and economic hardship for decades.

“I have to keep working, especially in these circumstances. Everything is more expensive,” said Abdelbagi, a barber in Khartoum. “I show up to work for two or three hours then I close up because it’s not safe.”

The fighting has pitched Sudan towards a civil war, derailing an internationally-backed transition aimed at establishing a democratic government and sending tens of thousands of people fleeing into neighbouring countries.

It has also deepened the humanitarian crisis in Sudan, where a third of the people were dependent on some form of humanitarian assistance before the fighting erupted, said Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator at the United Nations.

“The scale and speed of what is unfolding in Sudan is unprecedented. We are extremely concerned by the immediate as well as long-term impact on all people in Sudan and the broader region,” he said.

Victoria, one of the tea sellers that used to dot Khartoum’s streets before the fighting began, said her children are struggling to understand what is happening.

“So I risk my life to try to work and if God helps me I’ll get them some food and if he doesn’t I’ll keep trying. But just sitting useless doesn’t help and being scared doesn’t help,” she said.

Army leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has said he would never sit down with RSF chief General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, who in turn said he would talk only after the army ceased hostilities.

In Khartoum, the army has been battling RSF forces entrenched in residential areas. Fighting has so far seen the more agile RSF forces fan out across the city as the better equipped army tries to target them largely by using air strikes from drones and fighter jets.

The conflict has sent tens of thousands of people fleeing across Sudan‘s borders and prompted warnings the country could disintegrate, destabilising a volatile region and prompting foreign governments to scramble to evacuate their nationals.

Thousands of British nationals have fled Sudan as violence sweeps the country, killing hundreds of civilians.

On 25 April, the first UK government evacuation flight rescued Britons trapped in the capital, Khartoum after a 72-hour ceasefire between warring factions was negotiated.

The government announced final flights for evacuees would leave on Saturday evening after fears that the armistice between the two rival generals was wearing down.

However, an additional flight was made available on bank holiday Monday for Britons desperate to flee the country.

British nationals were given until noon to reach an airport in Port Sudan to be processed for the extra flight out of the conflict zone as rescue efforts shift to the east of the country.

Here is a look at what we know about the evacuation plans, so far.

The United Nations’ World Food Programme said on Monday it will immediately lift the suspension of its operations in Sudan that was put in place after the tragic deaths of its team member.

“WFP is rapidly resuming our programs to provide the life-saving assistance that many so desperately need right now,” WFP executive director Cindy McCain wrote on Twitter.

The WFP said on April 16 it had temporarily halted all operations in Sudan after three of its employees were killed in clashes between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) a day earlier.

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Sudan’s former prime minister Abdalla Hamdok on Saturday urged for both sides to come together for peace talks to stop a full-blown civil war on the scale of the Libya and Syria conflicts.

He said in a press conference in the Kenyan capital Nairobi: “This is not a war between an army and a small rebellion. It is almost like two armies – well trained and well armed.

“God forbid if Sudan is to reach a proper civil war ... it is a huge country and very diverse ... it would be a nightmare for the world.”

Tension had been building for months between Sudan’s army and the RSF, which together toppled a civilian government in an October 2021 coup.

The friction was brought to a head by an internationally-backed plan to launch a new transition with civilian parties. A final deal was due to be signed earlier in April, on the fourth anniversary of the overthrow of long-ruling autocrat Omar al-Bashir in a popular uprising.

Both the army and the RSF were required to cede power under the plan and two issues proved particularly contentious: one was the timetable for the RSF to be integrated into the regular armed forces, the second was when the army would be formally placed under civilian oversight.

When fighting broke out on 15 April, both sides blamed the other for provoking the violence. The army accused the RSF of illegal mobilisation in preceding days and the RSF, as it moved on key strategic sites in Khartoum, said the army had tried to seize full power in a plot with Bashir loyalists.

Joe Sommerlad reports:

Pictures show evacuees and military personnel at Wadi Seidna airport in Khartoum, Sudan boarding an RAF aircraft bound for Cyprus on Saturday.

Members of the military are working round the clock to assist UK citizens and others trying to escape the war-torn nation amid an uneasy ceasefire, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has said.

A UN refugee official has said 73,000 people have so far entered neighbouring countries from Sudan.

It comes as the UN humanitarian coordinator in Sudan warned that the humanitarian crisis in the country was turning into a “full flown catastrophe” and that the risk of spillover into neighbouring countries was worrisome.

“It has been more than two weeks of devastating fighting in Sudan, a conflict that is turning Sudan humanitarian crisis into a full blown catastrophe,” Abdou Dieng, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in the country, told a briefing of member states via video link.

Dieng added that civilians were taking refuge in parts of Sudan less affected by fighting or fleeing to neighbouring countries. “The regional spillover effect of the crisis is a serious concern,” he said.

The deadline has passed for British nationals to arrive at Port Sudan for what is being billed as the last evacuation flight to leave the country as a fragile ceasefire holds.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) had given those looking to flee the war-torn nation until 11am UK time - midday in Sudan - to reach the departure site on the eastern coast.

Officials at the Foreign Office would not confirm what time the flight was due to take off, but flight tracking websites showed a Royal Air Force (RAF) Airbus A400M Atlas plane as having landed at Port Sudan at about 3pm on Monday.

The UK Government said it was “exceptionally” offering one final flight following a series of repatriation departures out of Sudan last week.

It is understood the flight will airlift a limited number of British nationals left in the country - which has been rocked by fighting that is pushing Sudan into a humanitarian crisis - who wish to leave.

Those who wanted to be on the aircraft were instructed to arrive at the Coral Hotel by the midday deadline.

The offer came after the warring factions agreed to extend a fragile ceasefire for a further 72 hours.

The last UK evacuation flight from Wadi Saeedna airfield in Khartoum departed at 9pm on Saturday, with Port Sudan - around 530 miles from the capital - the location for the final British departure.

The growing rapprochement between Riyadh and Tehran after years of mistrust was visible on Monday as Saudi Arabia helped evacuate Iranian citizens fleeing the war in Sudan.

The Saudi navy carried the 65 Iranian citizens from Port Sudan to Jeddah and they will fly onwards to Tehran.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani called the transfer “a positive event” that had taken place thanks to Saudi-Iranian cooperation.

Ahmed al-Dabais, a senior Saudi military officer handling the operation, told Iranian evacuees that the two countries were good friends and brothers and they should regard the kingdom as their own country, in a video carried by local television.

Saudi Arabia, across the Red Sea from Sudan, has been a major hub for the evacuation effort as countries have worked to pull thousands of foreign citizens out of the conflict that suddenly erupted on April 15.

Revolutionary Shi’ite Muslim Iran and conservative, Sunni Saudi Arabia had feuded for years, backing opposing sides in wars and political struggles across the Middle East in a tussle for influence that fed conflicts and inflamed sectarian hatred.

Saudi Arabia cut off diplomatic relations in 2016 after Iranian protesters stormed the kingdom’s Tehran embassy following Riyadh’s execution of a Shi’ite Muslim cleric.

However, the two major oil producers agreed to end their rift and reopen diplomatic missions in a deal brokered in March by China.