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KHARTOUM RAIDERS
British embassy staff in Sudan and families rescued in SAS operation as fighting rages in war-torn country
SPECIAL Forces saved UK diplomats from warring Sudan yesterday but hundreds of Brits remain stranded.
SAS troopers, Paras and Marines led about 30 staff and dependants to an airfield outside capital Khartoum.
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Terrified consular officials ran the gauntlet of battles between government and rebel forces as they were driven 18 miles to Atlas and Hercules planes.
All were safely evacuated by the RAF aircraft which spent just minutes on the ground.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said 1,200 military personnel took part in the mission which launched from Cyprus and was supported by French forces who had secured the airfield.
Elite troops flew into Sudan on Saturday before yesterday’s 9am airlift.
Read More on the Sudan Civil War
But trapped British civilians hit out at the Foreign Office last night.
Hundreds were told to sit tight at home and wait for instructions despite food and water being cut.
A bloody power struggle has led to heavy bombardment of the city, leaving 400 dead and 3,500 injured.
British-Sudanese writer Rozan Ahmed cowered under a bed for six hours.
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She asked: “If there is no plan to get me out, please say why?
"We have received no information as to our evacuation.
"I am alive only by the grace of God and by the strength of my family.
“There are rogue soldiers in the streets raiding homes.
"We are terrified to a point where we have gone numb."
Iman Abu Garga, a Brit visiting Khartoum, said she registered herself and her two children with the British Embassy last week as instructed — but has heard nothing since.
She said: “We have no idea about timescale, or what it will look like.”
A shaken British woman told BBC Radio 4 she had been “completely abandoned” by the UK government.
Ambassador to Sudan Giles Lever and his deputy were in the UK when fighting erupted and have not been able to return.
The US, France, Belgium and the Netherlands have evacuated their diplomats.
Foreign Office officials insisted the situation was “incredibly complex”.
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The FO urged remaining Britons to “shelter in place” and for the warring factions to agree a ceasefire to allow civilians to leave.
Battles have been raging for a week between troops loyal to ruler Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and rebels led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo — said to be backed by Russia’s Wagner mercenaries.
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