The UK military’s evacuation Joint Task Force has handed over the coordination of evacuation operations at Wadi Seidna airfield to Sudanese authorities, after more than 20 evacuation flights.
The airfield, located to the north of Khartoum, has been the UK’s primary location for evacuating UK nationals and their dependents from Sudan - where a vicious power struggle between the regular army and a powerful paramilitary force has led to violence across the country.
Extra evacuation flights continued yesterday from Port Sudan.
Before departing Wadi Seidna, the UK’s Joint Task Force Commander held a call with his Sudanese counterpart to thank him for their close working relationship, which allowed his team to safely conduct the operation to evacuate more than 2,000 people.
The UK's Defence Secretary Ben Wallace commented:
"Yet again our Armed Forces are leading the way. I am extremely grateful to all our personnel, as well as the contributions of our international partners, including the US, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, who have helped ensure the safe evacuation of more than 2,000 civilians, including those from more than 20 other nations.
The dedicated work of all those deployed on this operation at short notice has seen the biggest and longest evacuation effort from Sudan of any Western nation. First in, last out. Defence gets things done.
Significant background work was required to ensure that people fleeing the current conflict could be managed with dignity, compassion and as much comfort as was possible in such an austere and challenging environment."
According to reports this morning, Sudan’s warring generals have agreed to send representatives for negotiations, potentially in Saudi Arabia. In the meantime, however, violent clashes are continuing between the two sides in Khartoum.