A CRACK SAS team reached Sudan last night to discuss rescue options as fears mounted for the 4,000 Brits trapped in the war-torn African nation.
A flight tracking website showed a C-17 transport aircraft heading to Port Sudan on the Red Sea — 500 miles from tinderbox capital Khartoum.
Italian nationals board a plane as they escape Sudan – but 4,000 Brits remain trapped in the war-torn country[/caption]
HMS Lancaster, currently in India, may be heading to the warzone to help Brits[/caption]
RFA Cardigan Bay is currently in Bahrain and could also help with the rescue mission[/caption]
It came as it emerged Britain’s ambassador to Sudan, Giles Lever, was away on holiday when Brits were stranded as the fighting erupted.
As the evacuation fiasco unfolded, it was thought two ships — RFA Cardigan Bay, is currently in Bahrain, and HMS Lancaster, in India, would supplement possible flights out of Sudan.
It was unclear, however, how their arrival could help UK British passport holders as the bloody power struggle continues to rage between Sudan’s army and Rapid Support Force rebels.
Khartoum has been under bombardment for over a week, leaving at least 420 dead — including 246 civilians — injuring 3,500 and severing power and water supplies.
The route from Khartoum to Port Sudan is more than 500 miles long and passes through areas in the grip of fierce fighting.
Experts believe it could take weeks to organise a military operation to safely assemble and airlift out masses of desperate Brits.
Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said the military was working up options to present to PM Rishi Sunak as pressure mounts over the issue.
Andrew Mitchell, UK minister for International Development and Africa, said: “We will do everything we can – and I mean everything – to get our British citizens out.”
It came as it emerged Mr Lever was among diplomats who took leave over the Muslim month of Ramadan, wrongly believing fighting was unlikely during the period.
The dad of two, whose second-in-command stayed behind, had been the UK’s head of mission in Kabul, Afghanistan, where another evacuation shambles unfolded in 2021.
Anger mounted as Brits living nearby were left behind on Sunday when troops airlifted diplomatic staff to safety and other nations successfully rescued their citizens.
Yasmin Sholgami, 30, whose British national grandad, 89, and grandma, 75, live 100 yards from the embassy, said: “They’ve been without food or water for a week with no way of getting out.
“They live in the same block as the British Embassy.
“Next thing we know all British diplomats and embassy workers have evacuated.”
PLANE SAILING
By HARRY COLE
A DARING mission to evacuate dozens of Brits from war-torn Sudan risked total collapse.
The Army, RAF and special forces rescued scores of British diplomats on Sunday.
But the airlift was halted by a row with Sudanese officials over flying out a diplomat’s spouse — a Sudanese citizen.
The man had to wait to be evacuated later on a French flight out of Khartoum.
One senior diplomatic source said the dispute risked “collapsing” the entire rescue.
A Downing Street spokesman insisted: “The plane left without any major incident.”