Western Morning News (Saturday)
Sudan evacuation flights to UK due to end today
THE UK will end evacuation flights from Sudan by 6pm today, the Government confirmed last night.
Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden said operations would cease following a “significant decline” in the number of British nationals seeking to flee the wartorn country.
Downing Street has so far rejected calls to widen the eligibility for evacuation beyond British passport holders and their immediate family. It comes amid criticism of the pace of the UK evacuation, which was bought more time after a three-day extension to the ceasefire was agreed.
Concerns have been raised that the current approach could see families split up or some members left behind, with Labour calling on ministers to use the longer window to extend eligibility for evacuation before it is “too late”.
Updated guidance on the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) website urged those wishing to leave Sudan to travel to the Wadi Saeedna airfield by 12pm local time on Saturday to be processed for the last flight.
Earlier Foreign Secretary James Cleverly urged all UK nationals wishing to flee Sudan to come forward “as quickly as possible”, despite the extended truce.
Heavy explosions and gunfire had rocked parts of Sudan’s capital Khartoum and its twin city of Omdurman, residents said. The reports came despite a fragile truce between the county’s two top generals, whose power struggle has killed hundreds, being extended. Gunfire erupted hours after both sides accepted a 72-hour extension of the ceasefire, apparently to allow foreign governments to complete the evacuation of their citizens.
Short truces also allowed tens of thousands of Sudanese to flee to safer areas and for foreign nations to evacuate thousands of their citizens by land, air and sea. On Friday, the truce remained delicate. The Turkish defence ministry said “light weapons were fired” at a C-130 aircraft heading to Wadi Sayidna, about 14 miles north of Khartoum, to evacuate Turkish civilians. The plane landed safely, with no casualties.
The Sudanese military blamed the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for firing at the Turkish aircraft. Residents reported fierce clashes in Khartoum’s upscale neighbourhood of Kafouri, where the military earlier used jets to bomb its rivals, RSF, in the area. Clashes were also reported around the military’s headquarters, the Republican Palace and the area close to the Khartoum international airport – all flashpoints since the war between the military and the RSF erupted on April 15.
“Heavy explosions and constant gunfire are heard across Kafouri streets,” said Abdalla, a Kafouri resident who asked to be identified only by his first name for his safety.
In Omdurman, across the Nile from Khartoum, a protest group reported “constant explosions” in the district of Karari early on Friday.
British Nationals prepare to be evacuated onto an RAF aircraft at Wadi Seidna Air Base, in Sudan
The RSF said the army’s aircraft bombed its positions in Omdurman and Jabal Awliya, south of Khartoum. The military, meanwhile, accused the paramilitary force of beginning the attack.
The power struggle between the Sudanese military, led by General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the RSF, led by General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, has dealt a harsh blow to Sudan’s hopes for a democratic transition. The rival generals came to power after a pro-democracy uprising led to the ousting of the former strongman Omar al-Bashir in April 2019. In 2021, the generals joined forces to seize power in a coup to oust a western-backed join militarycivilian administration. The fighting has further plunged the country, especially its capital, into chaos, with tens of thousands seeking safety elsewhere. Many headed to the northern borders with Egypt or to the city of Port Sudan on the Red Sea, where HMS Lancaster was reported to be heading towards earlier this week.