A summary of today's developments
Britain’s first evacuation flight landed in Cyprus on Tuesday evening after a ceasefire between Sudan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) backed by two warring generals in the country. Two more flights carrying about 220 people in total are expected later.
Rishi Sunak said there will be “many more” flights evacuating British nationals from Sudan on Wednesday. The prime minister added more than 1,000 people had been contacted.
The UK defence secretary, Ben Wallace, said evacuations on C130 Hercules and A400M planes would take place for as long as is possible. Germany was expected to fly its sixth extraction service on Tuesday, rescuing a total of almost 500 people.
Plans are in hand for Sudan’s army commander and de facto leader of the country, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, to meet the head of the RSF, Mohamed Hamadan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, according to a newspaper in Egypt.
The RSF has claimed that the Sudanese army has breached the 72-hour ceasefire. Gunfire and airstrikes were heard in Khartoum and Omdurman, according to news agencies on Tuesday. The RSF’s claims have not been independently verified.
There is a “high risk” of a biological hazard incident, according to the World Health Organization, because one of the warring factions has taken control of the national public laboratory in Sudan, which holds samples of diseases including polio and measles. “There is a huge biological risk associated with the occupation of the central public health lab,” said the WHO’s Nima Saeed Abid.
The UN refugee agency has said there could be further displacement of people, as thousands have already streamed into neighbouring Chad and South Sudan. Since the outbreak of the fighting on 15 April, at least 20,000 Sudanese have fled into Chad and about 4,000 South Sudanese refugees who had been living in Sudan have returned to their home country. One projected refugee total from the UN is as high as 270,000.
The International Rescue Committee has raised concerns about 3,000 people who have arrived at the Tunaydbah refugee camp in east Sudan, adding to the 28,000 refugees who already live there. An official has said the organisers believe more people will arrive at the camp, which has grown by more than 10% since fighting broke out.
Ukraine said it had evacuated 138 people, including 87 of its own citizens, from Sudan to Egypt during the ongoing ceasefire.
Two buses evacuating South African nationals from Sudan have arrived safely at the border with Egypt, a spokesperson for South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation has said.
France has helped to airlift Irish citizens out of Sudan, according to the country’s ambassador to Dublin. Vincent Guérend said 36 Irish people were among the 500 flown from Khartoum to Djibouti on three French flights in recent days, PA Media reports.
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