Military flights are being scrambled to evacuate British nationals trapped in Sudan, the UK government has announced.
The planes are due to depart from an airfield outside Khartoum, supported by senior diplomats from the Foreign Office.
Priority will be given to family groups with children, the elderly and those with medical conditions.
A 72-hour ceasefire has been agreed after hundreds of people were killed in fighting that first broke out on 15 April.
Rishi Sunak’s government has been under fierce pressure to help British passport holders escape as the war-torn African nation spiralled into chaos.
“At this stage we will contact those who are eligible for evacuation directly and British nationals should not make their way to the airfield unless they are called,” the Foreign Office said.
“The safety of all British nationals in Sudan continues to be our utmost priority and we urge everyone to continue to follow our travel advice.
“The situation remains volatile and our ability to conduct evacuations could change at short notice.”
The Foreign Office is also working with on other potential options to help British nationals leave Sudan, including from “other points of exit”.
More than 400 people have died and thousands injured in a bloody conflict between the Sudanese army and a powerful paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
What Is Happening In Sudan?
A power struggle has turned the country upside-down.
General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the Sudan army, has been the country’s de facto president since the military-led coup back in October 2021.
He’s now facing opposition from the paramilitary group the RSF (Rapid Support Forces), a group that entered an alliance with the army back in 2019 when longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir was ousted in a pro-democracy uprising.
The RSF and the Sudanese army then worked together to overturn the civilian government in 2021.
The RSF is led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (also known as Hemedti), who is also the deputy head of Sudan’s ruling Sovereign Council. He is therefore al-Burhan’s deputy, and together they tried to sort out a deal to end the political crisis following the ousting of the last government.
But they have faced weekly demonstrations, isolation and economic woes since seizing control.
Then fighting between the two finally broke out on Saturday following long-running fallouts over how to govern the country.
The rivalry between the two sides has spiralled out of control, with the violence first kicking off at a military base to the south of the capital of Khartoum.
Both sides are trying to claim certain strategic locations like the presidential palace, airports and air bases, for themselves and gunfire has been heard across the country.
Millions have been trapped in their homes by explosions, gunfire and armed fighters, while streets have been looted and hospitals are near collapse.
The clashes have stopped humanitarian aid reaching them too, while there’s a widespread shortage of food, water and electricity across the country.
Some Brits said they felt “abandoned” after diplomats were rescued in a night-time evacuation mission at the weekend.
Others set about organising their own dangerous private evacuations amid the deadly street fighting and a shortage of food, water and electricity.
Foreign secretary James Cleverly tweeted: “The UK government is co-ordinating an evacuation of British nationals from Sudan.
“We have started contacting nationals directly and providing routes for departure out of the country.”