RAF FLIES TO SUDAN TO RESCUE BRITONS

RACE TO AIRLIFT HUNDREDS OF UK NATIONALS BEFORE CEASEFIRE ENDS

- Nicholas Cecil

BRITAIN was today racing to airlift hundreds of UK nationals out of Sudan before a fragile ceasefire between warring factions ends.

An RAF Hercules C-130 aircraft was understood to have landed at a small airfield north of the capital Khartoum this morning.

Britons judged to be the most vulnerable in the conflict were being told to make their way to the Wadi Seidna airfield where a second giant A400 plane was believed to be heading this morning from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus.

The first British evacuation flight was expected to take off this afternoon, according to reports. “We are working as quickly as possible,” said Foreign Secretary James Cleverly. “We want to maximise the number of British nationals that we help but this does remain an unpredictable and dangerous circumstance.”

Around 1,400 military personnel are believed to be involved in the “large-scale” evacuation effort. A small British military team has also landed at Port Sudan on the Red Sea to examine whether an evacuation route could be opened there for some of the 4,000 British citizens in the country. Two warships, Royal Fleet Auxiliary Cardigan Bay and HMS Lancaster, which have been on exercises in the Middle East, could be used for such a mission.