Sudan evacuations: UK starts extracting British nationals following start of 72-hour truce

  Britain has announced the evacuation of its citizens from Sudan hours after the country's warring generals agreed to a three-day ceasefire.

"UK military flights are due to depart from an airfield outside Khartoum," a Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) statement said. 

"Flights will be open to those with British passports and priority will be given to family groups with children and/or the elderly or individuals with medical conditions."

It added that British citizens - estimated at 4,000 dual nationals and 400 just with British passports - should "not make their way to the airfield unless they are called".

The move comes days after the UK evacuated its embassy staff, facing criticism domestically for not doing more to help regular nationals.

"The situation remains volatile and our ability to conduct evacuations could change at short notice," said the FCDO, noting that 2,000 had registered with the foreign office seeking help to get out.

'Morgues are full'

Ten days of brutal fighting between Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (known as Hemeti) and General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who runs the Sudanese military, have prompted United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to warn Sudan is "on the edge of abyss".

Saudi Al-Arabiya TV on Tuesday morning said the truce had so far held and "there are no complaints of violations".

Previous ceasefire announcements have been squashed with Sudan's warring parties blaming each other for continued fighting, which has left 427 people dead and more than 3,700 wounded, according to UN agencies.

"Morgues are full, corpses litter the streets," said Attiya Abdallah, head of the doctors' union, which on Monday reported scores more casualties after sites in south Khartoum were "heavily shelled".

Khartoum, the capital city of five million, has endured "more than a week of unspeakable destruction", Norway's ambassador Endre Stiansen, who was evacuated, wrote on Twitter.

Guterres said that the violence in Sudan - already one of the world's poorest countries, with a history of military coups - “could engulf the whole region and beyond".

"We must all do everything within our power to pull Sudan back from the edge of the abyss," Guterres said, calling again for a ceasefire.

The UN has joined a rush of foreign governments evacuating diplomats and citizens from Sudan.

On Monday, a UN convoy carrying 700 people completed an 850-kilometre road trip from the capital, Khartoum, to Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast.

Sudan turmoil: Khartoum exodus as residents seek escape from fighting

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With Khartoum airport disabled after battles that left charred aircraft on the runways, many have been airlifted out from smaller airstrips to countries including Djibouti and Jordan.

US special forces swooped in with Chinook helicopters on Sunday to rescue diplomats and their dependents, while Britain launched a similar rescue mission.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said more than 1,000 EU citizens had been taken out during a "long and intense weekend" involving airlift missions by France, Germany, and others.

China said Monday it had "safely evacuated" a first group of citizens and would "try every means to protect the lives, properties, and safety of 1,500-plus Chinese compatriots in Sudan”.

Speaking earlier on Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington was in “close communication” with Americans in Sudan, the overwhelming majority of whom are dual nationals.

He said the US would try to help American citizens leave and that Washington was exploring options to return a diplomatic consular presence to Sudan as soon as possible.

Blinken also pointed a finger at the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, expressing concern about its involvement in the conflict. He said that wherever Wagner is engaged it "simply brings more death and destruction with it". 

'Leave Sudan alone'

Fighting in Sudan broke out after the RSF and military came to blows over plans to incorporate the RSF paramilitary into the regular army.

Analysts have warned of the potential for Sudan to spiral into a proxy war akin to the fighting that has ravaged neighbouring Libya. Russia and the UAE are seen as close to Hemeti, while Egypt has strong ties with Burhan.

Speaking alongside Blinken on Monday, Kenya's Foreign Secretary Alfred Mutua slammed Middle Eastern states for meddling inside Sudan, though he didn't name any directly. 

"At this particular time, it is not a time to be able to take sides in a war," Mutua said.

He added that foreign players were "trying to use Sudan as a playing field for whatever reason".

"We are asking external forces to leave Sudan alone."