Sudan: How elite team of British troops evacuated UK diplomats from warzone capital
The covert mission to evacuate British diplomats and their families from Sudan’s warzone capital began under the cover of darkness.
A team of elite British troops flew into Khartoum late on Saturday night on board an American military aircraft that was part of a separate but coordinated US evacuation mission.
Upon landing, the British soldiers left their American counterparts, acquired a number of local vehicles and drove across the city towards where the UK embassy is located.
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The British mission and its diplomats are in an area of Khartoum that sits between Sudan‘s two warring factions, making their extraction particularly perilous.
During the day on Saturday, those who were due to be rescued had gathered themselves together.
It was thought to be around two dozen British diplomats plus family members as well as a handful of officials from other nations that Britain had offered to help.
The troops met with the evacuation party of around 30 people, including children, and prepared for the extraction.
They had to assess the situation on the ground – the scene of deadly fighting for the past week and a half – and work out if it was safe enough to bring them out without more back-up.
In tandem with this first leg of the mission, two Royal Air Force transport planes – a C-130 Hercules and an A400M Airbus – had taken off from RAF Akrotiri, a sprawling British military base in Cyprus.
The aircraft, operating in coordination with the French and US armed forces and with permission from the Sudanese military, landed on a Sudanese airfield called Wadi Seidna which is about 30km north of Khartoum, at around 1am on Sunday morning, UK time.
This was about an hour and a half after the US aircraft – carrying the initial team of elite British soldiers – had landed in Khartoum.
The potentially most hazardous stage in the UK rescue mission came next.
The elite team of British soldiers with the diplomats had to travel from their assembly point in Khartoum to the airfield – a journey of about 30km (18 miles), through multiple checkpoints.
Smoke rises over Khartoum
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If heavy fighting was taking place, UK defence planners had been ready to send in more aircraft and troops, with the ability to “punch through” the checkpoints and reach the diplomats.
In that event, the soldiers with them would have been tasked with protecting the diplomats from the fighting until help came, rather than driving them out.
In the event, however, a window opened of relative calm to allow the soldiers on the ground to drive their passengers to the airfield.
A unit of troops from the two aircraft, which brought in military vehicles as well for the operation, also mobilised and moved towards the initial rescue team to assist.
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It was not immediately clear if the British troops encountered any gunfire or shelling.
Once at the airfield, the diplomats and families boarded the aircraft and the two British planes took off at around 9am, UK time, and headed back to Cyprus.
It is thought the aircraft had been on the ground for about seven to eight hours.
British nationals, or those with UK passports, can tell the government if they are trapped in Sudan by using this form.
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Israel says Hamas commander – who was one of the architects of the 7 October 2023 attacks – killed in strike
A senior Hamas commander who was one of the architects of the 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel has been killed in a strike on Gaza City, according to the country’s military.
Raed Saad was targeted in response to an attack by Hamas in which an explosive device injured two soldiers on Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement.
It is the highest-profile killing of a senior Hamas figure since the Gaza ceasefire came into effect in October.
Gaza health authorities said the attack on a car in Gaza City killed five people and wounded at least 25 others, but there has been no confirmation from Hamas or medics that Saed was among the dead.
Raed Saed
Hamas condemned the attack in a statement as a violation of the ceasefire agreement but stopped short of threatening retaliation.
An Israeli military official described Saed as a high-ranked Hamas member who helped establish and advance the group’s weapons production network.
“In recent months, he operated to re-establish Hamas’ capabilities and weapons manufacturing, a blatant violation of the ceasefire,” the official said.
The 10 October ceasefire has enabled hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return to Gaza City’s ruins after a war that began after Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and seized 251 hostages in an attack on southern Israel.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 70,700 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to health officials in Gaza.
Israel has pulled troops back from city positions, and aid flows have increased, but violence has not completely stopped.
Palestinian health authorities say Israeli forces have killed at least 386 people in strikes in Gaza since the truce, while Israel says three of its soldiers have been killed.
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Belarus pardons key opposition figure, among 123 prisoners, in exchange for US sanction relief
Belarus has pardoned 123 prisoners, including a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and a key opposition figure who challenged the presidential elections in 2020, in exchange for US sanctions relief.
Human rights advocate Ales Bialiatski and Maria Kolesnikova, a key figure in the mass protests that rocked the country in 2020, were among those released.
Earlier on Saturday, the Trump administration confirmed that the US was lifting sanctions on Belarus’s potash sector after officials held two days of talks in Minsk.
John Coale, the US special envoy for Belarus, also hinted that around 1,000 remaining political prisoners in Belarus could be released in the coming months as authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russia, seeks to improve relations with Washington.
Separately, Ukraine confirmed it had received 114 prisoners released by Belarus. The other nine were received by Lithuania.
Maria Kolesnikova, 43, known for her close-cropped hair and trademark gesture of forming a heart with her hands, was one of dozens of released prisoners who arrived in Ukraine by coach on Saturday.
Maria Kolesnikova (right) celebrates being released from detention. Pic: Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War
“Of course, this feeling is incredible happiness,” she said in a video released on X from the Military Intelligence of Ukraine.
“At the same time, of course, I think about those people who are not yet free. I am very much looking forward to the moment when we can all hug each other, when we can all see one another, when we will all be free,” she added.
Ms Kolesnikova became a symbol of resistance when Belarusian authorities tried to deport her to Ukraine in September 2020. She broke away from security forces at the border, tore up her passport and walked back into Belarus.
Maria Kolesnikova became a symbol of resistance to Alexander Lukashenko’s regime. File pic: AP
The professional flautist was convicted in 2021 on charges including conspiracy to seize power and sentenced to 11 years in prison, but then fell seriously ill and underwent surgery.
Ales Bialiatski, 63, who founded Viasna, Belarus’ oldest and most prominent human rights group, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022 while awaiting trial for charges which were widely regarded as politically motivated.
After arriving in Lithuania, he spoke briefly to crowds outside the US embassy in Vilnius and said in English: “Never give up”.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski arrives in Lithuania after his release by Belarusian authorities. Pic: AP
He was seen by authorities as especially dangerous because of what Belarus alleged were his “extremist tendencies”.
Sentenced to 10 years in 2023, he had been held at a penal colony in Gorki, notorious for beatings and hard labour, and his health was deteriorating, according to his wife.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee expressed “profound relief and heartfelt joy” at the release of Mr Bialiatski and called on the Belarusian authorities “to release all political prisoners”.
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Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who is an opposition leader in exile and a close ally of Ms Kolesnikova, posted her delight on X: “Maria is free!”
She added: “For five years, we fought for Maria Kolesnikova’s freedom. I am deeply grateful to the US administration and our European partners who worked tirelessly to secure her release.
“Maria is in a safe place, and we hope to hear from her soon.”
Ukrainian officials said President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had also spoken to Ms Kolesnikova after her release, although they have not released any more details.
In a statement, published on the Telegram social media platform, the Military Intelligence of Ukraine confirmed more details of who had been released, including people “imprisoned for political reasons”.
Among the group were Viktar Babaryka, a former banker, jailed in 2021 after challenging Mr Lukashenko at the polls, and journalist Maryna Zolatava, who was imprisoned in 2023 on a range of charges including harming national security. Critics argue both sentences were politically motivated.
President Lukashenko has ruled the nation with an iron fist for more than three decades, but has been repeatedly sanctioned by Western countries both for its crackdown on human rights and for allowing Moscow to use its territory in the invasion of Ukraine.
Following the two-day talks, US envoy John Coale posted on X: “Another 156 political prisoners released thanks to President Trump’s leadership! An important step in U.S.-Belarus relations.”
It is not clear whether the figure includes previously released prisoners.
Speaking to the Reuters news agency on Saturday, Mr Coale said around 1,000 remaining political prisoners in Belarus could be released in the coming months.
“I think it’s more than possible that we can do that, I think it’s probable… We are on the right track, the momentum
is there.”
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko meeting John Coale, US special envoy, in Minsk for talks. Pic: President of the Republic of Belarus/Reuters
US officials eased some sanctions after meeting with President Lukashenko in September 2025. In response, Minsk freed more than 50 political prisoners into Lithuania, taking the total number freed by Belarus since July 2024 to more than 430.
Mr Coale also spoke about weather balloons which have flying over the border from Belarus into Lithuania.
“He [Mr Lukashenko] agreed recently to do everything he could to stop the balloons,” Mr Coale told the Reuters news agency.
Lithuania has declared a state of emergency over the balloons, used by cigarette smugglers, which have caused over a dozen closures of Vilnius airport in recent months.
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