Stranded Britons in Sudan compelled to 'KILL PETS' amid pleas for evacuation
A scramble to evacuate from Khartoum airport
Reuters
Tory Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman Alicia Kearns has called on the Government to improve communications with worried British nationals in Sudan, who are resorting to extreme measures as they prepare for evacuation.
On Sunday special forces daringly started to airlift of British diplomats and their families out of Khartoum under the cover of darkness.
It comes as tension have been building for months between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which together toppled a civilian government in an October 2021 coup.
Warning of the drastic measures now being taken by terrified britons stuck in the country, Kearns said: "If there was to be no evacuation because it’s too dangerous… then we have a moral obligation to tell British nationals as soon as possible that that is the judgement that has been made because they need to be able to make their own decisions.”
A military vehicle exits the gate of RAF Akrotiri, a Britsh military base in Cyprus
Reuters
Kearns added: “I’m even hearing stories of people killing their pets because they’re worried they’re going to starve.”
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly MP has warned that aid and rescue prospects to the thousands still stranded will remain “severely limited” until a ceasefire is reached.
Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the Commons Defence Committee, called for a “clear-cut plan” to evacuate British passport-holders from Sudan.
Speaking to GB News, Ellwood said: “If that plan does not emerge today, then individuals will lose faith and then start making their own way back” which could create “some very difficult situations.”
European nations have been evacuating diplomats and nationals, with the EU’s foreign policy chief claiming over 1,000 European Union citizens had been evacuated.
Meanwhile, US authorities said they had airlifted fewer than 100 people in a “fast and clean” operation before closing its embassy and announcing in a tweet that it is not safe enough to evacuate private US citizens.
However, the US announced on Sunday that a disaster response team would be sent to the area to “coordinate the humanitarian response for those in need both within and outside Sudan”.
Andrew Mitchell, Africa minister, said: “The situation is absolutely desperate and a ceasefire is what is required.”
Smoke hangs over Khartoum
Reuters
The World Health Organisations says that over 400 people have been killed and thousands injured so far, while the UN has warned that up to 20,000 people have fled Sudan to seek safety in Chad.
Bombardment and street fighting has cut electricity and curtailed access to food and water for much of the population.
Fears are also growing over lions at a wildlife sanctuary near Khartoum. The Sudan Animal Rescue Centre has reportedly lost power to its electric fences and is running out of food.