Final evacuation flights from Sudan leave for Cyprus
The last evacuation flights have now left Sudan, the Foreign Office confirmed.
The final plane left at 1.10am local time today, which was more than two hours later than expected.
The extra flights were announced this week amid a renewed uneasy 72-hour ceasefire, which was set to end last night.
The Foreign Office warned ‘violence could escalate’ and said there will be no further extensions of evacuation efforts.
In a statement on the government website, the department said: ‘The UK government is no longer running evacuation flights from Port Sudan. The last evacuation flight has now departed.
‘We have a presence in Port Sudan at the Coral Hotel. If you are a British National in Port Sudan who needs assistance, please visit our team who may be able to signpost you to other options for departure.
‘We are closely monitoring the situation in Khartoum and other parts of Sudan where there are ongoing military clashes. There is now fighting in various locations across Sudan. Khartoum International Airport is currently closed.’
What you need to know about the war in Sudan
How did the war start?
The current fighting is the result of a power struggle between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The paramilitary group, which was originally created by dictator Omar al-Bashir to crush a rebellion in the western region of Darfur, cooperated with the army to overthrow the autocrat in 2019.
This was supposed to precede Sudan’s transition to a democratic government, a move backed by western nations.
The north African country saw more than two years of power-sharing between the military and civilian leaders but a coup brought this to an end in October 2021.
Sudan was left with the army's general, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, as Sudan's de facto ruler and the RSF's general Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commonly known as Hemedti, as vice-president.
What sparked the recent escalation?
The Sudanese people and the international community continued to push for a new transition to democracy after the coup.
The plan was to get Sudan to a point where civilian parties would have control over the military, which the RSF would be dissolved into.
But there has long been tension surrounding the details of this arrangement, namely the proposed timeline - the army wanted the integration complete in two years but the RSF insisted on waiting 10.
Nevertheless, negotiations looked hopeful with a final deal due to be signed earlier this month, before a new phase of fighting broke out on April 15.
The army pointed the finger at the RSF for mobilising troops to key strategic sites in the capital of Khartoum and the RSF claimed it was just responding to the army's alleged plot to seize full power with Bashir loyalists.
The final flight landed in Larnaca at 6.32am local time, according to FlightRadar, and another plane is scheduled to leave for Birmingham this afternoon.
Foreign secretary James Cleverly tweeted: ‘We’ve co-ordinated the longest and largest evacuation of any Western country. But the hard work in Sudan has not finished.’
He said 2,341 people had left the country on 28 flights, with 1,195 of them being British nationals. Many were Sudanese dependents of British nationals.
Mr Cleverly stressed there was still a British military presence in Sudan with the HMS Lancaster warship off the Red Sea coast.
Martin Griffiths, the United Nations under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief ccoordinator, arrived in Port Sudan yesterday to request the safe passage of aid deliveries.
He said: ‘It’s not as if we’re asking for the moon. We’re asking for the movement of humanitarian supplies and people. We do this in every other country, even without ceasefires.’
Warring factions in Sudan have agreed to send representatives to the negotiation table in an aim to establish a more stable truce.
British nationals have spoken about their efforts to escape Sudan, with many having to risk their lives and others being denied entry to the UK.
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