From BBC News Live Reporting
Monday 24 April 2023 22:26 BST UK
Edited by Nathan Williams and Alys Davies
22:26 Pausing our coverage
Nathan Williams
Live reporter
We're pausing our live coverage for now, thanks for following along.
The two rival factions – the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the regular Sudanese army – have agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire, the US says. But, this is not the first ceasefire of the conflict – let's see if this holds. You can continue to read about the story here.
Nations have been attempting to get diplomats and citizens out of the country. But UK defence sources have warned the situation is "more dynamic, more dangerous" than what was seen during the evacuation of Kabul, Afghanistan back in 2021.
Amid the evacuations, some 3,500 Nigerians are "stranded", a Nigerian diaspora body has said.
Throughout the day, we've also heard many harrowing stories from people on the ground – including those who are having trouble accessing food and water.
For more on this story see this short background piece. And here's another on how evacuations happen.
And here's our latest news story on the situation in Sudan.
Today's coverage was brought to you by Heather Sharp, Alexandra Fouché, Cecilia Macaulay, Ece Goksedef, Antoinette Radford, Laura Gozzi, Adam Durbin, Sam Hancock, Aoife Walsh, Nadine Yousif, Alys Davies and myself.
Summary
The UK government has insisted it's doing all it can to help British nationals stuck in Sudan - after diplomats and their families were rescued yesterday
Minister Andrew Mitchell says there are estimates of around 4,000 Britons in the country, but the number could be higher
Fighting between two opposing forces has seen deadly shooting and shelling in the country's capital, Khartoum, for more than a week
France, Germany, Italy and Spain have been evacuating diplomats and other nationals from Sudan
But UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has warned that help for Britons will remain "severely limited" until a ceasefire is reached
He added there were "specific threats and violence directed towards diplomats", which led to the decision to evacuate staff from the British embassy in Khartoum
A British businessman living in Sudan has told the BBC the situation is a "nightmare for those of us left behind" in the country
UK defence sources say the situation in Sudan is “very, very different” than what was seen during the evacuation out of Afghanistan in 2021
Khartoum is "more dynamic, more dangerous" than Kabul - with ongoing fighting in areas where Western nationals are located, the sources say
The BBC understands that a small British military team has landed in Sudan to assess potential evacuation options
Meanwhile, Sudan's rivals have agreed to a three day ceasefire starting on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken says
More than 1,000 EU citizens have been airlifted out, many on French and German rescue missions
Fighting between the Sudanese army and RSF paramilitary force has left 420 people dead since it began on 15 April
About 9,000 refugees flee to South Sudan
US heavily involved in efforts to stop the fighting
Ceasefire comes after past attempts to call truce collapsed
See above reports here with thanks to the BBC.
[Ends]
No comments:
Post a Comment