'SAVE BRITS TRAPPED IN SUDAN BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE'

MINISTERS UNDER PRESSURE TO FIND SAFE ROUTE FOR 4,000 NATIONALS STUCK IN ESCALATING WAR

- Nicholas Cecil, Miriam Burrell

MINISTERS came under spiralling pressure today to evacuate Britons from war-torn Sudan as other European nations were flying their citizens to safety.

They were urged to lay out plans within hours on how UK citizens would be flown out of the country in north-east Africa or taken by convoy to a port to board a rescue ship.

Africa minister Andrew Mitchell said the Government was exploring all evacuation options for up to 4,000 UK citizens but added that it was “critical” for the warring parties to agree a ceasefire so that a safe corridor could be established for people to leave the conflict zone. But Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy and Sweden were among countries already organising rescue flights for their citizens amid fears that the fighting could quickly escalate.

More than 420 people, including 264 civilians, have been killed and over 3,700 wounded in clashes between the Sudanese armed forces and a powerful paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces as two generals fight for power. As countries rushed to extract their citizens from the capital Khartoum, a German air force plane with 101 evacuees landed in Berlin early today. The German air force has flown out 311 so far from an airfield near Khartoum, the military said. A Dutch military plane with evacuees flew from Sudan to Jordan early today. People from different nationalities, including Dutch nationals, were on board the plane, the Netherlands foreign ministry said.

The French government said its evacuation operations had brought 388 people so far out of Sudan.