THE DEADLINE for Brits to make it to the evacuation flights out of war-torn Sudan has expired - with the last plane expected to depart in just six hours.
UK officials had warned Brits had until midday local time (11pm BST) to reach the airfield on the outskirts of Khartoum.
Royal Marines commandos and other UK military forces are currently holding Wadi Saeedna airfield some 14 miles north of the Sudanese capital.
And while so far almost 1,600 people have been evacuated on 13 flights, its feared there are still thousands of Brits trapped in Sudan.
The journey to the airfield is potentially dangerous with reports of heavy clashes once again despite the fragile ceasefire.
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The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office had urged those left in Sudan to travel to the Wadi Saeedna site before 12pm local time (11am BST) to be processed before the final plane leaves.
HMS Lancaster has also been on standby if the government decides to open a new evacuation route via Port Sudan.
And meanwhile, 20 NHS medics with UK work permits were told they could board flights back to the UK.
Dr Abdulrahman Babiker - who works at a hospital in Manchester and had been visiting family in Sudan for Eid - said he was "really glad" of the change, by warned about the lack of time left for his colleagues.
The sounds of air strikes, anti-aircraft weaponry and artillery could be heard in Khartoum early on Saturday.
Fighting between the army and a rival paramilitary force continued despite yesterday's announcement of a 72-hour ceasefire extension.
Strikes by air, tanks and artillery along with reports of snipers on the streets continue to rock Khartoum.
"We woke up once again to the sound of fighter jets and anti-aircraft weapons blasting all over our neighbourhood," a witness in southern Khartoum said.
Another witness said fighting had been ongoing since the early morning, especially around the state broadcaster's headquarters in the capital's twin city of Omdurman.
Hundreds have been killed and tens of thousands have fled for their lives in a power struggle between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that erupted into violence on April 15.
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The fighting has also reawakened a two-decade-old conflict in the western Darfur region where scores have died this week.
The army has been deploying jets or drones on RSF forces in neighbourhoods across the capital.
Many residents are pinned down by urban warfare with scant food, fuel, water and power.
At least 512 people have been killed and close to 4,200 wounded, according to the United Nations, which believes the real toll is much higher.
And yesterday a Turkish evacuation plane was hit by gunfire as it came into land, highlighting the extreme danger of the operation.
Pictures however show British forces tirelessly working to get people - including very young children - onto the evac planes.
RAF transport aircraft are running a gauntlet from Cyprus to Khartoum and then back again.
Brits are then being flown by charter plane back to the UK.
Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden said rescue operations would cease following a "significant decline" in the number of British nationals coming forward to flee the war-torn country.
It comes amid criticism of the pace of the British evacuation.
The rescue mission was bought more time after a three-day extension to the ceasefire between warring generals was agreed on Thursday.
Mr Dowden hit back an accusations the Government would effectively "abandon" those who have been unable to make the potentially dangerous journey with its decision to cease flights.
"I wouldn't accept that characterisation. The first thing I would say is that every single British national that has come forward and their eligible dependants have been put safely on to a plane," he said.
"We are seeing those numbers declining significantly and, just like other countries, as those numbers decline we have put an end date on this."
He said "consular assistance" will remain available at exit routes from the country after the end of evacuation flights.
Downing Street has so far rejected calls to widen the eligibility for evacuation beyond British passport holders and their immediate family.
Concerns have been raised that the current approach could see families split up or some members left behind, with Labour calling on ministers to use the longer window to extend eligibility for evacuation before it is "too late".
More than 75,000 people were internally displaced within Sudan just in the first week of the fighting, according to the United Nations.
Only 16% of hospitals were operating as normal in the capital.
Violence has sent tens of thousands of refugees across Sudan's borders and threatens to stir instability across a volatile swathe of Africa between the Sahel and the Red Sea.
Foreign governments have evacuated diplomats and citizens to safety over the past week, including with airlifts like Britain's.
One man from Sudan who arrived back in the UK described his experience as a "nightmare".
Speaking outside the airport, he said: "It's absolutely fantastic to be back. It's been a nightmare. We've never seen anything like it before.
"We saw it on the television before but we never thought it was going to happen to a peaceful country like Sudan.
"Khartoum is like a ghost city, everyone is leaving Khartoum now.
"We are very grateful to the British servicemen and women who risked their lives to come to Sudan and help us out."
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned earlier that Sudan was on "the edge of the abyss" and that the violence "could engulf the whole region and beyond".
The fighting has pitted forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against those of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the RSF.
With Khartoum airport disabled after battles that left charred aircraft on the tarmac, many foreigners were airlifted from smaller airstrips to countries including Djibouti and Jordan.
More than a dozen passenger jets were damaged on the tarmac when clashes erupted at the commercial airport.
Experts have long drawn links between the RSF and Russian mercenary group Wagner. Blinken earlier on Monday voiced "deep concern" that Wagner risked aggravating the war in Sudan.
The military toppled Bashir in April 2019 following mass citizen protests that raised hopes for a transition to democracy.
The two generals seized power in the 2021 coup, but later fell out, most recently over the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army.
Those Sudanese who can afford to are also fleeing Khartoum on crowded buses for the more than 900-kilometre desert drive north to Egypt.
