Britain begins evacuating citizens from Sudan

April 25 (UPI) -- Britain began evacuating an estimated 4,000 of its citizens from Sudan Tuesday, taking advantage of a pause in the fighting from a three-day cease-fire brokered by the United States.

"The U.K. government is coordinating an evacuation of British nationals from Sudan. We have started contacting nationals directly and providing routes for departure out of the country," Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in a Twitter post.

Family groups with children, the elderly and the sick will be prioritized in the operation from an airfield north of the capital Khartoum with people being instructed not to make their way to the airport until they are contacted and that when they do so it will be at their own risk, according to a Foreign Office travel bulletin.

"We are continuing to work up other options to assist British nationals wanting to leave Sudan, including at other points of exit," the bulletin reads.

Flight tracking services showed the first aircraft -- a Royal Air Force Lockheed C-130J Hercules transport -- departed the airfield just after 5:00 a.m. EDT for a three-hour flight to the RAF's Akrotiri military base in Cyprus. The aircraft was on the ground for around one hour.

Britons are being told to be wary of independent convoys planning to depart Khartoum toward Port Sudan where a Royal Navy frigate is standing off the coast in the Red Sea, with the Foreign Office saying the British Embassy has no involvement with these convoys and any British nationals who join one of the convoys do so at their own risk.

All British diplomatic staff were evacuated from the country in a military operation Monday, which ramped up the pressure on the government to get out the thousands of people left behind in the former British colony.

Rescue missions by the German and French military forces over the past two days have enabled more than 1,000 European Union citizens to escape 10 days of fighting between warring factions within Sudan's military government that killed at least 420 people.

A three-day cease-fire between the rival Sudan Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces came into force at midnight Sudan time following intense negotiations brokered by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The United States, which had an estimated 16,000 citizens in the country, evacuated its diplomatic staff on Sunday, with Navy ships being deployed off the coast of Port Sudan to help Americans who arrive there, according to the Defense Department.

According to the U.S. State Department's latest security alert posted Tuesday, the U.S. government and international partners are assisting U.S. citizens in Port Sudan.

"There are options available to depart Sudan in Port Sudan. For those who are able to depart Port Sudan via ferry, U.S. government officials are also receiving citizens in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia," the alert says.

However, with U.S. officials stressing Monday that it was not standard practice to send in the U.S. military to extract U.S. citizens from trouble spots, the United States has as yet no plans to evacuate Americans.

"Due to the uncertain security situation in Khartoum and closure of the airport, it is not currently safe to undertake a U.S. government-coordinated evacuation of private U.S. citizens," reads the alert.

"However, we remain dedicated to assisting U.S. citizens remaining in Sudan," it says going on to advise Americans in the country to provide their information using an online form to enable authorities to inform them of options to leave Sudan as security conditions permit.

On Tuesday, Massachusetts lawmakers, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass, and Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass, sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken "urging him to do everything possible to provide assistance to Americans in Sudan."

"Approximately 16,000 Americans live in Sudan. As you know, the situation on the ground is incredibly unstable and confusing, including possible disinformation about RSF assisting in evacuating Americans. Now that the United States has evacuated its embassy staff, there's even more uncertainty for the Americans left behind," the lawmakers said in the letter.

"Your efforts must include providing all possible support to U.S. citizens in Sudan who want to leave. We urge you to develop and implement a plan to do so immediately," they continued.

Congressman Brandon Williams, D NY-22, says his office is in touch with residents who are currently in Sudan.

"If any constituent who is currently abroad in Sudan is seeking assistance, please contact our office immediately," said Williams' communications director Taylor Weyeneth.