Thanasis Gavos

A group of British soldiers have arrived at the Red Sea port of Port Sudan on a “reconnaissance operation” as they consider options to rescue more British nationals from war-torn Sudan.

As Sky News reported, the soldiers arrived in the eastern Sudanese city in a C-17 transport aircraft.

It is noted that this mission does not imply that an evacuation operation is imminent, with Deputy Defense Minister James Hippie stating that the armed forces are preparing a series of options to present to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

The 835km route that separates the port from the capital Khartoum is described as “long and difficult”.

The Royal Navy frigate HMS Lancaster is also in the area and could assist in a possible evacuation operation of up to 4,000 British passport holders remaining in Sudan.

A possible option remains to carry out flights with Royal Air Force transport aircraft, such as the two that carried around 30 British diplomats and their families to the British base at Akrotiri in Cyprus in the early hours of Sunday.

Decisions on next steps are likely to be made at a later emergency committee meeting on Monday night.