ESCAPE FROM HELL
First flight of Brits rushed out of Sudan lands in UK as tense ceasefire for families to flee bloodbath Khartoum holds
BRITS rescued from war-torn Sudan have arrived back in the UK as the first of the rescue flights touched down.
The jet touched down at Stansted Airport at 2.30pm from Larnaca in Cyprus as the military races against time to rescue some 4,000 UK citizens from the fragile warzone.
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Children including babies were on board the charter flight as the complex and dangerous rescue mission continues - with the military operation expected to continue throughout this week.
Families clutching their tots, elderly people in wheelchairs and others were reunited with anxious friends as they arrived back in the UK.
"It's absolutely fantastic to be back. It's been a nightmare. We've never seen anything like it before," said one evacuee.
"I was in the middle of the conflict. There was bombing and shelling, the house next to us was shelled. It was like a Bond movie, I've never seen anything like it before."
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The clock is ticking as the 72-hour ceasefire window which opened yesterday is rapidly closing while Brit forces attempt to help the civilians.
This evening the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said six UK flights have evacuated 536 people from the war-torn area.
British officials are confident "multiple hundreds" could be flown out before the end of Wednesday on eight flights from Sudan.
Brigadier Dan Reeve, chief of joint force operations, the RAF can move 500 people per day on five aircrafts but that could be increased by calling on more, or larger, planes.
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And he added that even if the ceasefire is breached, they are confident the UK can continue the operation.
"I can see no reason at the moment why we can't continue to do that for as long as the Prime Minister wants us to," said Brigadier Reeve.
Downing Street insisted there have been no "significant issues" being faced by the evacuees who have been told to make their own way to the airfield.
But there are fears Brits could face running a gauntlet of chaos and bloodshed through war-torn Khartoum.
"There are more people stranded there and I think there should be more awareness to those stranded," said one evacuee.
"We were very lucky but not everyone was as lucky we are."
Tarig Babikir, 42, who used to live in Coventry, is taking on a four-hour walk alone to get to the airfield.
"It all goes down to your instinct, you have to figure out where the fire's coming from and try to find a different route," he said.
Dr Ehab Al-Moubarak is currently on his way to the airfield from his parent's home in Wad Madani, around 120 miles south of Khartoum.
"The issue with security is that it is very difficult to get or evaluate information and as such every rumour needs to be considered," he said.
"The rumour is that there is clashes here and they're within the route (to the airfield)."
And the situation continues to devolve in Sudan, with the World Health Organisation warning only 16 per cent of medical facilities are functioning and adding they expect disease outbreaks.
More than 2,000 British nationals have registered in Sudan under evacuation plans, but thousands more could be in the country.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's official spokesman said the operation in Khartoum is "running smoothly", while there is currently "no issue with capacity".
He had not been informed of "large-scale problems" of non-British passport holders turning up and being told they are not eligible.
Despite nationals being told to make their own way to the airstrip, he said "we are not seeing those who are making that travel having significant issues".
Downing Street hopes to carry on with flights throughout the week and does not believe there will be a need to "leave the airport imminently".
Brit commandos took control today of Wadi Saeedna - a military landing strip being used for the evacuation Germany wrapped up their own operation, with 700 people rescued.
Some 1,400 Brit servicemen are involved in the Sudan evacuation mission which has been described as even more difficult than the frantic escape from Afghanistan's capital Kabul in 2021.
Wadi Saeedna Air Base in 14 miles north of the bombed out city - with sporadic gunfire still being heard amid the ruined streets.
And with just 48 hours left before full fighting resumes, there is growing criticism over how the UK Government has handled the evacuation.
Foreign Office officials had yesterday urged people to not make their way to the airport unless called - but that guidance appears to have changed.
Samar Eltayeb, from Birmingham, a medical student in Khartoum, compared the conditions to the movie The Purge - which features a society where lawlessness and murder run rife.
"It was so terrifying. The sounds kept getting louder and it was as if they were right outside the dorm," she told .
The student explained she is trapped and unable to reach to the airfield as there is no petrol for their cars.
She added: "There'll be constant flights within the next few days, but if I can't find gas to get there, then I'm stuck."
Brit families have been left trapped in the city, unable to reach Wadi Saeedna.
Wathig Ali, a British citizen in Khartoum, along with his son, 6, and pregnant wife said the situation is "extremely hostile".
"Our worst fear is the bombing and the checkpoints on the way to the airport. We have been stuck indoors for days," he said.
Brit charity worker Yasmin Sholgami told the BBC her grandparents are trapped in Khartoum without food and water.
She explained every time relatives have tried to reach their own they've been shot at by snipers.
"Little does the government know that there are many areas in the centre of Khartoum that are too dangerous to leave your house without help from some sort of official," said Yasmin.
Brit freedom flights using Hercules and Atlas military transport planes are running a loop from Khartoum to Cyprus.
Royal Navy commandos and SAS special forces are on the ground helping to secure the airfield and will protect the base if it comes under attack.
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The Government is considering other options for the evacuation, including a possible seaborne evacuation from Port Sudan, some 500 miles from Khartoum.
And meanwhile, Type-23 frigate HMS Lancaster is on alert and ready to steam towards Sudan.
The East African nation has been torn apart by warring factions over the last two weeks.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman defended the UK's response to the crisis when speaking on Wednesday.
The Government had to cope with a "larger cohort of British nationals in Sudan compared to many other countries", insisted Ms Braverman.
Announcing the completion of Germany's evacuation efforts, the country's foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said Berlin would not leave civilians "to their own devices", in an apparent swipe at the UK's approach.
She said that "unlike in other countries", Germany's evacuation had included all its nationals and not just embassy staff.
SAS troops evacuated UK diplomatic officials on Sunday in a daring rescue mission.
And then the wider evacuation was launched during a ceasefire brokered between the warring factions.
But Foreign Secretary James Cleverly warned the extraction of UK nationals is "inherently dangerous" as "we cannot be sure for how long it will hold".
Families with children or elderly relatives, or individuals with medical conditions, will be prioritised for the flights.
Only British passport holders and immediate family members with existing UK entry clearance are being told they are eligible.
Nationals have been warned all travel within Sudan is "conducted at your own risk".
The ceasefire between Sudan's warring generals came into effect on Tuesday.
The country has been rocked by 10 days of urban combat which has killed more than 400, wounded thousands, and sparked a mass exodus of foreigners.
The United States and European, Middle Eastern, African and Asian nations launched emergency missions to bring to safety their embassy staff and Sudan-based citizens by road, air and sea.
But millions of Sudanese are unable to flee what is one of the world's poorest countries, with a history of military coups.
They are trying to survive acute shortages of water, food, medicine and fuel as well as power and internet blackouts.
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The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) agreed to the ceasefire "following intense negotiations", Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement shortly before the truce took effect last night.
Previous bids to pause the conflict failed to take hold, but both sides confirmed they had agreed to the three-day halt.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned earlier that Sudan was on "the edge of the abyss" and that the violence "could engulf the whole region and beyond".
The fighting has pitted forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against those of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the RSF.
With Khartoum airport disabled after battles that left charred aircraft on the tarmac, many foreigners were airlifted from smaller airstrips to countries including Djibouti and Jordan.
More than a dozen passenger jets were damaged on the tarmac when clashes erupted at the commercial airport.
Experts have long drawn links between the RSF and Russian mercenary group Wagner. Blinken earlier on Monday voiced "deep concern" that Wagner risked aggravating the war in Sudan.
The military toppled Bashir in April 2019 following mass citizen protests that raised hopes for a transition to democracy.
The two generals seized power in the 2021 coup, but later fell out, most recently over the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army.
Those Sudanese who can afford to are also fleeing Khartoum on crowded buses for the more than 900-kilometre desert drive north to Egypt.
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Among the 800,000 South Sudanese refugees who previously fled civil war in their own country, some are choosing to return, with women and children crossing the border, said the UN refugee agency.
In the capital, street battles have left the sky often blackened by smoke from shelled buildings and torched shops.
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