British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Sunday the country's armed forces have evacuated diplomatic staff and their family members from Sudan.
In a tweet, Sunak paid tribute to what he called a "complex" evacuation after he said there had been a significant escalation in violence and threats to embassy staff.
"We are continuing to pursue every avenue to end the bloodshed in Sudan and ensure the safety of British nationals remaining in the country," the UK Prime Minister has said.
Britain's defence minister, Ben Wallace, said British troops undertook the rescue operation alongside the United States, France, and other unnamed allies.
Türkiye has also taken steps to evacuate its citizens from Sudan. Turkish citizens in Sudan’s “conflict zones” would be evacuated through a third country, Turkiye’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs had announced.
France had said it launched a "rapid evacuation operation" for its citizens and diplomatic staff, with some 250 French nationals believed to be in the country.
Other European citizens and those from "allied partner countries" would also be assisted, the French foreign ministry said without giving further details.
The eruption of fighting in Sudan eight days ago between the army and Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group has killed hundreds of civilians and trapped many thousands in their homes.
Saud i Arabia led the first reported successful evacuation with naval operations picking up more than 150 people including foreign diplomats and officials from Port Sudan on Saturday.
Riyadh announced the "safe arrival" of 91 Saudi citizens and around 66 nationals from 12 other countries -- Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Tunisia, Pakistan, India, Bulgaria, Bangladesh, the Philipines, Canada and Burkina Faso, AFP news agency reports.
The evacuation by the UK comes hours after American embassy staffers were airlifted from Sudan early Sunday.
The warring sides in Sudan said they were helping coordinate the evacuation of foreigners, though continued exchanges of fire in Sudan's capital undermined those claims with the World Health Organisation saying more than 400 people have been since the fighting started last week.
A senior Biden administration official said U.S. troops are carrying out the precarious evacuation of U.S. Embassy staffers. The troops who airlifted the staff out of Khartoum have safely left Sudanese airspace, a second U.S. official confirmed.
The U.S. government personnel were evacuated from Washington's embassy in Khartoum, including a small number of diplomats from other countries, U.S. officials said, in an operation that evacuated fewer than 100 people from Sudan.
U.S. aircraft entered and exited Sudan without any issue, a military official said. A substantial number of local staff remain, supporting the embassy, where Washington decided to suspend operations on Saturday, the Reuters news agency reports, quoting another US official.
Situation remains volatile
The Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group, which has been battling the Sudanese army, said it has ''coordinated with the U.S Forces Mission consisting of 6 aircraft, for evacuating diplomats and their families on Sunday morning.''
In a statement on Twitter, the RSF said it affirmed its ''full cooperation with all diplomatic missions, and providing all necessary means of protection, and ensuring their safe return to their countries.''
But the U.S. has denied the group did anything to help the evacuation of its diplomatic staff members.
“You may have seen some assertions in social media in recent hours, that the Rapid Security Forces somehow coordinated with us and supported this operation. That was not the case,” said Under Secretary of State for Management John Bass. “They cooperated to the extent that they did not fire on our service members in the course of the operation.”
The RSF, led by Gen. Mohammed Hamad Dagolo, said it is cooperating with all diplomatic missions and that it is committed to a three-day cease-fire that was declared at sundown Friday.
Earlier, army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan said he would facilitate the evacuation of American, British, Chinese and French citizens and diplomats from Sudan after speaking with the leaders of several countries that had requested help.
French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Anne-Claire Legendre said Sunday that France was organizing the evacuation of its embassy staff, French citizens in Sudan and citizens of allied countries. She said France was organizing the operation “in connection with all the involved parties, as well as with our European partners and allies.”
However, the situation on the ground remains volatile. Most major airports have become battlegrounds and movement out of the capital has proven intensely dangerous. The two rivals have dug in, signal ing they would resume the fighting after the declared three-day truce.
