TWO extra evacuation flights carrying British nationals have left Sudan, as UK efforts now turn to diplomacy and humanitarian aid.
The “exceptional” flights – billed as the last UK airlift from Sudan – took off from Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast on Monday evening.
Military rescue flights from an airstrip near the Sudanese capital Khartoum ended on Saturday.
Nearly 2,200 people had been evacuated as of Monday afternoon.
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office said it would release passenger numbers for the two latest flights on Tuesday.
British nationals and others, including Sudanese NHS staff, were asked to travel to Port Sudan by midday on Monday for the “additional exceptional” flights.
The Foreign Office would not confirm the movements of the flights, but a flight tracking website showed a RAF transport Hercules aircraft had landed in Larnaca, Cyprus, at 22:45 local time (20:45 BST). A RAF Atlas transport aircraft was due to land later.
The UK government said it had ended evacuation flights from Wadi Saeedna airstrip because of a decline in demand by British nationals and the “increasingly volatile situation” on the ground, with the last military plane taking off on Saturday night.
Airstrikes and fighting were reported over the weekend despite a ceasefire between the Sudanese army and its rival the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
The UK government described the operation in Sudan as the “longest and largest airlift” by any Western nation, with 2,197 people airlifted from the war-torn nation as of 17:30 Sudan time on Monday.
This figure included 1,087 people from other nations, including the US and Germany.
In addition, a UK team is providing consular assistance in Port Sudan, where they will be helping British nationals leave by commercial routes. Royal Navy ship HMS Lancaster is supporting evacuation efforts from Sudan.
The FCDO said the situation remained volatile and “our ability to conduct evacuations could change at short notice”.
