The British government said the Ministry of Defense was putting in place “tight planning” in relation to the current conflict in Sudan, after Sky News reported that Britain was putting troops and aircraft on standby at a military base abroad in case they were needed to evacuate embassy staff and British nationals.
Sudan’s army said earlier it had agreed to a three-day truce starting Friday to allow citizens to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, after nearly a week of fighting between its forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
Britain said it was coordinating with its international partners to provide consular assistance to its nationals and to support diplomatic staff. “The Ministry of Defense supports the Department of Foreign Affairs, Commonwealth and Development in its thorough planning for various contingencies,” she added.
Earlier on Friday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke with the President of Djibouti to discuss the security situation in Sudan and ways to protect the nationals of both countries.
In the context, the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan announced its readiness to partially open all Sudanese airports to air traffic to countries wishing to evacuate their nationals.
On Friday, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the army was preparing as many options as possible before a possible evacuation of the US embassy in Sudan, but no decision had been made yet.
“We have deployed some forces in theater to ensure we have as many options as possible if we are asked to move. We haven’t been asked to do anything yet. Nothing has been decided,” Austin told a news conference at Ramstein Air Base, Germany.
In turn, the European Union is drawing up plans for possible evacuations of its nationals from Khartoum if the security situation permits, according to an official in the bloc, today, Friday, in light of the battles taking place in the Sudanese capital between the army and the Rapid Support Forces.
