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.
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