In response to the ongoing conflict in Sudan, the UK government has announced an emergency airlift to evacuate British nationals from the war-torn region.

The operation comes after a meeting of the Government's Cobra emergencies committee, during which it was decided that two warships would be placed on standby in the region and military planes stationed at an airfield outside the capital, Khartoum.

RAF crews are now preparing for a "large-scale" evacuation, with priority being given to the most vulnerable UK passport holders, including families with children and the elderly. However, only British passport holders and immediate family members with existing UK entry clearance are eligible for evacuation.

The Foreign Office has warned that all travel within Sudan is "conducted at your own risk" and that the ability to carry out evacuations could change at short notice during the "volatile" truce. Despite this, the government has begun contacting nationals directly and providing routes for departure out of the country.

In addition to the RAF airlift, two British military ships - RFA Cardigan Bay and Type 23 frigate HMS Lancaster - are on standby for possible evacuations, with a team of British troops flown into Port Sudan to check out the options. Sir Nicholas Kay, a former British ambassador to Sudan, has warned that the situation during the ceasefire remains "precarious", with the security situation able to change quickly and no trust between the two sides. Photo by Christopher Michel from San Francisco, USA, Wikimedia commons.