Sudan crisis: UK troops set to take command at Khartoum airfield and can use force if necessary

Report from the i

By Hugo Gye, Political Editor

Tuesday 25 April 2023 6:49 pm (Updated 8:20 pm)

Sudan crisis: UK troops set to take command at Khartoum airfield and can use force if necessary

It remains unclear how many of the British citizens currently stranded in Sudan can be evacuated by the Government

British troops on their way to Sudan (Photo: LPHOT Mark Johnson/MoD)

British troops are poised to take control of the airfield in Sudan where evacuation flights have been taking British citizens out of the war-torn country.

Military and civilian officials will oversee operations at the facility outside Khartoum, including security in the event that the airfield comes under attack from local militias.

Three flights were due to be completed by Wednesday morning with several more expected throughout the day – but the UK Government does not know whether it will be able to evacuate all the British nationals who want to leave.

Officials are based at the Wadi Saeedna airfield but ministers have ruled out expanding operations beyond that area, meaning that only people who can make it there on their own will be eligible for evacuation. 

There are 120 British troops at the base including members of 40 Commando, who flew in from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus.

i understands the UK troops will be ready to use force if required to protect the airfield, should it come under attack during the airlift.

Government officials are hopeful the operation can be carried out without any exchange of fire, with the troops primarily there to assist with logistics.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace confirmed i‘s reporting on Tuesday evening, telling LBC Radio: “The Germans are leaving tomorrow, and we will take over the facilitation at the airfield.

“And the reason the Germans are leaving is people have stopped coming in large numbers.”

Mr Wallace said only one nation can facilitate the airfield at a time.

He added: “If the Spanish or the Italians or anyone else wants to fly, we’ll be the ones giving permissions effectively.”

The minister also said 99 per cent of the British nationals who have registered with the Foreign Office are in the capital Khartoum.

The Government is still working on other options including an evacuation by boat from the coastal city of Port Sudan.

The start of the mission came after the announcement of a ceasefire between the two warring forces currently tearing Sudan apart. 

It also followed an agreement between the UK Government and the armed forces of Sudan to give British nationals safe passage out of the country.

The Foreign Office has made contact with the Rapid Support Forces, which is fighting the Sudanese Armed Forces of the internationally recognised government.

A processing centre at the airfield is being run by staff from the Foreign Office and Border Force after the entire embassy team was evacuated on Sunday over fears they would be directly targeted by militias. The site, used by several different Western governments, was being operated and guarded by the German military but as of Wednesday evening they were preparing to end their mission and hand over to the UK.

There are no plans to help British nationals to access the evacuation mission because of the dangers of travelling even short distances within Sudan. And if the current ceasefire breaks down, there is no guarantee the evacuation efforts can continue, Government sources have said.

Rishi Sunak rejected the suggestion that the Government was too slow to act to help British citizens, saying: “I’m pleased that we were actually one of the first countries to safely evacuate our diplomats and our families. And it was right that we prioritised them because they were being targeted.

“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.”

The UK’s military presence in the region may enable the Government to bring humanitarian aid to Sudan once the evacuation mission is complete, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told MPs. He said: “It could well be that it stops becoming an evacuation and in fact it becomes a humanitarian crisis that we have to deal with, that is the challenge on the ground in Sudan is the food and water access as a result of the conflict.”

Oliver Dowden, the new Deputy Prime Minister, chaired the latest in a near-daily series of Cobra meetings to co-ordinate the response of multiple different Whitehall departments to the crisis.

View original: here.

How elite team of British troops evacuated UK diplomats from Khartoum. Britons in Sudan tell FCDO

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: The following report reveals something of the 1,200 British personal involved in the evacuation of diplomats in Khartoum but gives no credit to UK Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace, an excellent defence chief with an interesting military career. 

The report says, British nationals, or those with UK passports, can tell the government if they are trapped in Sudan by using this form. More below.

Note that Russia is UN Security Council president in April. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is expected to chair meetings. On Tuesday, there will be an open briefing and closed consultations on Sudan. 

The UK (the penholder on the file) requested the meeting* to discuss developments in the country after fighting erupted on 15 April in and around Khartoum between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary group the Rapid Support Forces. At the time of writing, the briefers for the meeting had yet to be confirmed.

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Report from Sky News UK

By Deborah Haynes

Security and Defence Editor @haynesdeborah

Sunday 23 April 2023 18:00, BST UK

Exclusive

Sudan: How elite team of British troops evacuated UK diplomats from warzone capital

The team of British soldiers with the diplomats had to travel from their assembly point in Khartoum to the airfield - a journey of about 30km (18 miles), through multiple checkpoints.

The covert mission to evacuate British diplomats and their families from Sudan's warzone capital began under the cover of darkness.

A team of elite British troops flew into Khartoum late on Saturday night on board an American military aircraft that was part of a separate but coordinated US evacuation mission.

Upon landing, the British soldiers left their American counterparts, acquired a number of local vehicles and drove across the city towards where the UK embassy is located.

Play Video - British nationals 'remain a top priority 2:19

British nationals 'remain a top priority' says Foreign Secretary James Cleverly [pictured].

The British mission and its diplomats are in an area of Khartoum that sits between Sudan's two warring factions, making their extraction particularly perilous.

During the day on Saturday, those who were due to be rescued had gathered themselves together.

It was thought to be around two dozen British diplomats plus family members as well as a handful of officials from other nations that Britain had offered to help.

The troops met with the evacuation party of around 30 people, including children, and prepared for the extraction.

They had to assess the situation on the ground - the scene of deadly fighting for the past week and a half - and work out if it was safe enough to bring them out without more back-up.

In tandem with this first leg of the mission, two Royal Air Force transport planes - a C-130 Hercules and an A400M Airbus - had taken off from RAF Akrotiri, a sprawling British military base in Cyprus.

The aircraft, operating in coordination with the French and US armed forces and with permission from the Sudanese military, landed on a Sudanese airfield called Wadi Seidna which is about 30km north of Khartoum, at around 1am on Sunday morning, UK time.

This was about an hour and a half after the US aircraft - carrying the initial team of elite British soldiers - had landed in Khartoum.

The potentially most hazardous stage in the UK rescue mission came next.

The elite team of British soldiers with the diplomats had to travel from their assembly point in Khartoum to the airfield - a journey of about 30km (18 miles), through multiple checkpoints.

If heavy fighting was taking place, UK defence planners had been ready to send in more aircraft and troops, with the ability to "punch through" the checkpoints and reach the diplomats.

In that event, the soldiers with them would have been tasked with protecting the diplomats from the fighting until help came, rather than driving them out.

In the event, however, a window opened of relative calm to allow the soldiers on the ground to drive their passengers to the airfield.

A unit of troops from the two aircraft, which brought in vehicles as well for the operation, also mobilised and moved towards the incoming rescue team in case needed.

It was not immediately clear if the British troops encountered any gunfire or shelling.

Once at the airfield, the diplomats and families boarded the aircraft and the two British planes took off at around 9am, UK time, and headed back to Cyprus.

It is thought the aircraft had been on the ground for about seven to eight hours.

British nationals, or those with UK passports, can tell the government if they are trapped in Sudan by using this form [ https://www.register.service.csd.fcdo.gov.uk/sudan-20230422/register-your-presence-in-sudan-with-fcdo ]

View original and video interview: 

https://news.sky.com/story/sudan-how-elite-team-of-british-troops-evacuated-uk-diplomats-from-warzone-capital-12864485

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Details of evacuation revealed, with more than 1,200 personnel involved

Sky News has some more details about what the evacuation of British diplomats and their families entailed:

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has said on Twitter: "The operation involved more than 1,200 British personnel from 16 Air Assault Brigade, the Royal Marines and the RAF.

"I am grateful to all our partners including Cyprus. I want to pay tribute to the bravery and professionalism of our armed forces."

Here is the tweet: 

https://news.sky.com/story/sudan-latest-uk-ready-evacuate-diplomats-as-fierce-fighting-rages-12864054?postid=5815472#liveblog-body

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A convoy seen on Sunday thought to be evacuating UN staff from Sudan

IMAGE SOURCE, GETTY IMAGES

Image caption, A convoy was seen on Sunday thought to be evacuating UN staff from Sudan

Source: BBC News 23 April 2023 

Sudan fighting: Diplomats and foreign nationals evacuated:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-65363586.amp

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Report from Sky News LIVE

Sunday 23 April 2023 14:39 BST UK - excerpt:

Passport doesn't have an automatic right to rescue, military analyst says

Philip Ingram, former senior military intelligence and security officer, has been speaking to Sky News throughout the day about what is happening in Sudan.

We asked him about the British nationals who are still in Sudan, having not been included in the initial rescue of diplomats and their families.

He said: "It's an unfortunate reality of life that whenever you get a British passport - or you get a passport from any country around the world - it doesn't automatically have written in it '...and you will be evacuated from any situation that you find yourself in'.

"First and foremost, there's an individual responsibility and, if you go into a country that you know is unstable, you're going in for a reason.

"It's usually to make lots of money, and you're usually going in with another international organisation or large corporate organisation who have the first responsibility to get their people out if the situation is worsening.

"It's only when it gets really bad that government step in."

But for those Britons who do not fit into this category, he said: "Stay inside, register your location (with the Foreign Office) and have the confidence that the Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence will be looking for specific threats against British nationals and will let you know - but in this case no news is probably good news."

Full story at Sky News LIVE:

https://news.sky.com/story/sudan-latest-uk-ready-evacuate-diplomats-as-fierce-fighting-rages-12864054?postid=5815858#liveblog-body

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*Report from What’s in Blue

Sunday 23 April 2023 

THE WEEK AHEAD at the UN SECURITY COUNCIL

24-28 April 2023 - excerpt:

On Monday (24 April), Russia will convene a ministerial-level open debate on “Effective multilateralism through the defense of the principles of the UN Charter”, under the “Maintenance of international peace and security” agenda item. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is expected to chair the meeting. Secretary-General António Guterres is the anticipated briefer.

On Tuesday (25 April), the Security Council will convene for its quarterly open debate on “The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question”. Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland will brief at the meeting, which will be chaired by Lavrov.

Also on Tuesday, there will be an open briefing and closed consultations on Sudan. The UK (the penholder on the file) requested the meeting to discuss developments in the country after fighting erupted on 15 April in and around Khartoum between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary group the Rapid Support Forces. At the time of writing, the briefers for the meeting had yet to be confirmed.

Background information on many of these issues has been published in our April 2023 Monthly Forecast.

Further Council developments will be posted to What’s in Blue.

Follow us on Twitter @SCRtweets.

Source: 

https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/2023/04/open-debate-effective-multilateralism-through-the-defense-of-the-principles-of-the-un-charter.php

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