Brits rush to join latest rescue flights in Sudan as battles erupt

Additional rescue missions left Port Sudan after British citizens met at noon to make a dangerous 800km journey from Khartoum

The Foreign Office said 2,197 Britons had been saved from the Civil War. So far, two RAF flights from Port Sudan were due to land in Larnaca, Cyprus, this evening (

Image: UK MOD/PA)

The last evacuation flights for Britons fleeing war-torn Sudan took off as battles erupted today.

Additional rescue missions left Port Sudan after British citizens met at noon to make a dangerous 800 km journey from Khartoum.

This came as the Ministry of Defense released dramatic footage of the latest evacuation flight from Wadi Seidna Air Base on Saturday.

As of 5:30 p.m., dozens more British nationals were evacuated from Port Sudan, with more expected this evening.

The Foreign Office says 2,197 Britons have been saved from the Civil War. So far two RAF flights from Port Sudan were due to land in Larnaca, Cyprus this evening.

Members of the military are working around the clock to help British citizens and others trying to flee war-torn Sudan (

Picture:

PENNSYLVANIA)

HMS Lancaster is supporting the effort. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said, "Once again the men and women of our armed forces have led the way."

Flight tracking websites said an RAF Airbus A400M Atlas landed in Port Sudan around 3pm yesterday. Reports say he left soon after as an explosion and gunfire erupted near homes in the capital Khartoum.

On Friday, the UK announced it was halting rescue flights on Saturday as a new 72-hour ceasefire between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces was rocked by violence .

The UN says the rivals have agreed to join peace talks. MoD footage showed Britons boarding RAF aircraft on Friday and Saturday at Wadi Seidna airfield near Khartoum.