Sudan: First flight evacuating British civilians lands in Cyprus – as PM says next 24 hours ‘absolutely critical’

Published

2 years ago

April 25, 2023

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The first flight carrying British civilians out of Sudan has landed in Cyprus – as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the next 24 hours are “absolutely critical”.

A passenger plane with about 40 civilians on board landed at Larnaca airport, a spokesperson for Cyprus’s foreign ministry said.

Around 4,000 UK passport holders have been stranded in the east African country after heavy fighting broke out.

An RAF plane collected people from an airfield near Khartoum, with priority being given to families with children, the elderly and people with medical conditions.

And two more flights are expected overnight – though Britons will also have to reach the airfield themselves, negotiating checkpoints and potential outbreaks of fighting, as no escorts are being provided.

Evacuation effort begins for stranded Britons – Sudan latest

Africa minister Andrew Mitchell said all British nationals in the country who want to leave should head to the airstrip “before 8pm Khartoum time” – 7pm BST – to be processed for departure, but reiterated they would have to make it there “by their own steam”.

He also appealed to people to continue to register their location with the Foreign Office, and said the government was “continuing to work up other options to assist British nationals wanting to leave Sudan, including other points of exit.”

It appears to be a race against time as there are fears over whether a 72-hour ceasefire, which began late on Monday, will hold.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said it was “impossible for us to predict how long this opportunity will last”.

Around 1,400 military personnel are believed to be involved in the UK operation.

The first Hercules left Sudan this morning, according to a flight-tracking site, and landed at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus this afternoon.

It is understood to have been carrying an advance team, rather than people evacuated from Khartoum.

Mr Mitchell said around 200 people were working in a crisis centre in the Foreign Office “day and night”, with a range of government departments “joined at the hip”.

The PM visited staff earlier to thank them for their work, telling them: “Keep at it… the next 24 hours are absolutely critical.

“We can make a big push as we’re already doing and you can help us get everyone who wants to come home, home.”

The government has faced criticism for evacuating diplomatic staff two days before a full evacuation of British nationals began.

But Mr Sunak said he had been chairing emergency meetings on the crisis everyday since Thursday – including one his minister revealed took place at 3.15am on Saturday morning – and he was “pleased that we were actually one of the first countries to safely evacuate our diplomats and their families”.

He added: “It was right that we prioritise them, because they were being specifically targeted.

“Now, the security situation on the ground in Sudan is complicated, it is volatile and we wanted to make sure we could put in place processes that are going to work for people, that are going to be safe and effective and we now have over 100 people on the ground in Sudan.

“The first flight has already left with British nationals, we’ll have more flights this evening, and we’ll have many more into tomorrow and that is down to the hard work of lots of people and we will keep at it.”

Speaking to the Foreign Affairs committee, Mr Mitchell was also questioned as to why other countries – namely France – had already carried out evacuations of their citizens and was asked if the country was doing a better job.

“No I don’t,” he said. “I think everyone is going about this in their own way [and] we have a much larger number of citizens to take out.”

About 4,000 UK passport holders are thought to be trapped in Sudan as rival military factions battle for control.

Hundreds of people have died since the fighting started on 15 April and the evacuation comes after days of pressure for a plan to get Britons out.

Food and fuel have soared in price, electricity and internet are cut off in much of the country and the clashes have left governments scrambling to get their citizens and diplomats out.

Mr Cleverly said contact had been made with leaders of the two factions “calling on them to allow British nationals, dual nationals and minors to be evacuated”.

Sky’s Alistair Bunkall – in Cyprus – saw the first flight take off from RAF Akrotiri and said many more are likely to follow considering the number of people who need evacuating.

It takes about three and a half hours to travel from the Mediterranean base to Sudan.

The Foreign Office said it is also looking at other potential “points of exit” – possibly by sea via Port Sudan, according to Bunkall.

Two ships, RFA Cardigan Bay and HMS Lancaster, are being lined up in case they are needed, said the Foreign Office.

The airborne evacuations carry obvious risks for the RAF, such as potential exposure to gunfire or even missiles, according to Sky’s defence editor Deborah Haynes.

Although they shouldn’t be targeted, she said there is “always the possibility of a mistake, a miscalculation or a deliberate attack given the chaos and unpredictably on the ground”.

Some UK citizens have manged to escape on evacuation flights operated by other countries.

Germany, Italy, Spain and France are among those that have already rescued hundreds of people from dozens of countries on their own flights.

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However, the Foreign Office said only British passport holders would be able to get a place on the UK planes.

Britain’s diplomats and their families were evacuated over the weekend in a precarious mission by elite troops that took place under the cover of darkness.

Some senior Foreign Office officials will be at the airstrip to coordinate the evacuations.

The violence in Sudan comes after rival generals fell out over a deal to incorporate the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) group into the military.

The army and RSF mounted a coup together in 2021 after long-time ruler Omar al Bashir was overthrown in a popular uprising two years earlier.

However, their relationship broke down during negotiations to integrate and form a civilian government.

World

Bob Geldof accuses Israeli authorities of ‘lying’ about starvation in Gaza

Published

3 hours ago

July 27, 2025

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Bob Geldof accuses Israeli authorities of 'lying' about starvation in Gaza

Bob Geldof has accused the Israeli authorities of “lying” about starvation in Gaza – after Israel’s government spokesperson claimed there was “no famine caused by Israel”.

Earlier this week, David Mencer claimed that Hamas “starves its own people” while on The News Hour with Mark Austin, denying that Israel was responsible for mass hunger in Gaza.

Appearing on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Geldof said the claims are false.

Follow latest: Gaza aid airdrops a ‘smokescreen’ and ‘distraction’

Sir Trevor asked the Live Aid organiser: “The Israeli view is that there is no famine caused by Israel, there’s a manmade shortage, but it’s been engineered by Hamas.

“I guess the Israelis would say we don’t see much criticism from your side of Hamas.”

In response, Geldof said “that’s a false equivalence” and “the Israeli authorities are lying”.

The singer then added: “They’re lying. [Benjamin] Netanyahu lies, is a liar. The IDF are lying. They’re dangling food in front of starving, panicked, exhausted mothers.

“And while they arrive to accept the tiny amount of food that this sort of set up pantomime outfit, the Gaza Humanitarian Front, I would call it, as they dangle it, then they’re shot wantonly.

“This month, up to now, 1,000 children or 1,000 people have died of starvation. I’m really not interested in what either of these sides are saying.”

He added: “If the newsfeeds and social feeds weren’t so censored in Israel, I imagine that the Israeli people would not permit what has been done in their name.”

Asked about the UK government’s reaction, Geldof said it was “not enough”.

“This is a distraction thing about ‘let’s recognise the state ‘ – absolutely, it should have been done ages ago, but it’s not going to make any material difference,” he said, referring to calls for Sir Keir Starmer to recognise Palestine as a state.

In the Sky News interview earlier this week, Mr Mencer added: “This suffering exists because Hamas made it so. Here are the facts. Aid is flowing, through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Millions of meals are being delivered directly to civilians.”

He also claimed that, since May, more than 4,400 aid trucks had entered Gaza carrying supplies.

It comes after MSF, also known as Doctors Without Borders, warned 25% of young children and pregnant women in Gaza are now malnourished.

The charity said Israel’s “deliberate use of starvation as a weapon” has reached unprecedented levels, and said that at one of its clinics in Gaza City, rates of severe malnutrition in children under five have trebled over the past two weeks.

MSF then described the lack of food and water on the ground “unconscionable”.

In a statement to Sky News, an Israeli security official said that “despite the false claims that are being spread, the State of Israel does not limit the number of humanitarian aid trucks entering the Gaza Strip”.

It then blamed other groups for issues delivering aid. They said: “Over the past month, we have witnessed a significant decline in the collection of aid from the crossings into the Gaza Strip by international aid organisations.

“The delays in collection by the UN and international organisations harm the situation and the food security of Gaza’s residents.”

The IDF also told Sky News: “The IDF allows the American civilian organisation (GHF) to distribute aid to Gaza residents independently, and operates in proximity to the new distribution zones to enable the distribution alongside the continuation of IDF operational activities in the Gaza Strip.

“Following incidents in which harm to civilians who arrived at distribution facilities was reported, thorough examinations were conducted in the Southern Command and instructions were issued to forces in the field following lessons learned.

“The aforementioned incidents are under review by the competent authorities in the IDF.”

World

‘I still have hope’: Parents of IDF soldier taken hostage by Hamas fear he’ll be one of last freed

Published

3 hours ago

July 27, 2025

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'I still have hope': Parents of IDF soldier taken hostage by Hamas fear he'll be one of last freed

Yehuda searches through a downstairs room looking for a plastic bag containing the most precious of objects.

It’s a small, blackened Rubik’s Cube that belongs to Yehuda’s son Nimrod – one of 20 living Israeli hostages still being held by the terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.

It was found in Nimrod’s burnt-out tank after the October 7th attacks.

“He likes PlayStation and Rubik’s Cube,” says Nimrod’s mother, Vicky.

“They found the Rubik’s Cube in the tank. It was complete but a little bit dark and they brought it back to us.”

We spoke to Nimrod’s parents Yehuda and Vicky about the emotional rollercoaster hostage families in Israel are going through – as hope rises and fades of a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.

“I still have hope that maybe I will see Nimrod again,” says Vicky.

“It almost breaks my heart because I still had expectation,” she says – in spite of the latest failure to find resolution in talks between Israel and Hamas in Doha.

“But I still have hope that maybe something good will happen,” she says.

Vicky says: “We heard [during] the last weeks, President Trump saying we will hear about a ceasefire soon – next week – in a few days.

“We heard our prime minister [Benjamin Netanyahu] say visiting Washington and meeting Trump was very successful – and heard members of the coalition talking about our prime minister eventually understanding he needs to end the war. But until now nothing.”

The delegation coming back to Israel doesn’t mean a total collapse of ceasefire talks, but US envoy Steve Witkoff said the response to the latest ceasefire proposals by Hamas showed “a lack of desire”.

And so the rollercoaster of emotion for the hostage families continues.

Middle East latest: Gaza aid airdrops a ‘smokescreen’

Nimrod’s father Yehuda Cohen said: “Of course it’s a disappointment but it’s not the first one. A long time ago I learned not to get my expectations up so the disappointment won’t be too deep.

“The solution is very simple – I’ve got it on my shirt – ceasefire and hostage deal. Meaning the only way to get all the hostages is ending the war.”

Yehuda shows us Nimrod’s bedroom at the family home. It’s exactly as it was when Nimrod left to return to his army duties a few days before the October 7 attacks.

Except in a corner, there’s a box of uniforms and personal possessions, including a wallet which Nimrod had left at his army outpost – all returned to the family by the IDF.

It’s just like the bedroom of any other teenager – Nimrod was 19 when he was kidnapped. But two birthdays have passed since then. Nimrod is 21 now – a milestone spent in captivity a few weeks ago.

It’s believed there are 20 living Israeli hostages in Gaza – all male – and that Hamas is holding the bodies of 27 more hostages who have been killed.

But even if a deal is agreed, the first phase is expected to secure the release of only half of the living hostages – and Nimrod’s parents say their son, as a soldier, is not likely to be one of the 10.

Yehuda says: “A partial deal means that the probability my son will be on that list is close to zero. So he’s going to be one of the last ones to be released, and that’s why we have to fight.”

World

Five killed after Russia and Ukraine trade aerial bombardments

Published

3 hours ago

July 27, 2025

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Five killed after Russia and Ukraine trade aerial bombardments

At least five people have been killed after Russia and Ukraine traded aerial bombardments overnight, officials have said.

In Ukraine, the southern region of Dnipro and the northeastern region of Sumy were attacked by rockets and drones.

The head of the Dnipro regional administration, Serhii Lysak, said at least three people had died and at least five were injured.

In the city of Dnipro, a multi-storey building and businesses were damaged in the strike, and a fire engulfed a shopping centre in the region.

The military administration in Sumy said three people were injured.

Over three hours, Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, was hit by four guided aerial bombs, two ballistic missiles and 15 drones.

In a Telegram post, its mayor, Ihor Terekhov, said high-rise residential buildings, local businesses, roads and the communication network were damaged.

He said at least five people were injured, including three rescue workers hit in a double tap strike, where a second attack targets emergency workers trying to help those wounded in the initial attack.

In total, Russia targeted Ukraine with 208 drones and 27 missiles overnight, according to the daily air force report.

It said air defence and electronic warfare took down or intercepted 183 drones and 17 missiles, but hits from 10 missiles and 25 drones had been recorded in nine locations, according to preliminary data.

Officials in Russia said Ukrainian drones targeted several regions overnight, with a drone attack on the border region of Rostov killing two people, according to acting governor Yuri Slyusar.

In the neighbouring Stavropol region, drones hit an industrial facility, governor Vladimir Vladimirov said on Telegram. The attack sparked a brief fire, he added.

Drones also targeted Moscow but were shot down, according to mayor Sergei Sobyanin. They also targeted an industrial facility in the Penza region southeast of the capital, governor Oleg Melnichenko said.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said its air defences shot down or intercepted a total of 54 Ukrainian drones.