The situation in Sudan is “very, very different” than what was seen during the evacuation out of Afghanistan in 2021, UK defence sources say.

"Kabul was the last place of safety in Afghanistan. But we had troops on the ground, really good intelligence, really good relationships with the Afghan national security forces,” the source says.

They add that the Taliban gave the UK and allies "a defined period of time" to get people out quickly.

Sudan, however, poses a different challenge, mainly due to the ongoing fighting.

Khartoum is "more dynamic, more dangerous" than Kabul. There wasn't fighting going on between the Taliban and the Afghan army while we were trying to do the evacuation, the source says.

In contrast, in Khartoum there is ongoing fighting in the neighbourhoods where Western nationals are most heavily concentrated.

These comments were echoed by Andrew Mitchell, the UK Minister of State for Development and Africa, who said earlier on Monday that the situation in Sudan poses a unique challenge.

We've been hearing from a number of people about how difficult it is to travel out of Sudan.

A teacher from the Khartoum American school, Elizabeth Boughey, tells us she had to drive through multiple checkpoints to escape Sudan for Djibouti.

She said she drove with her colleagues at 5km/hr through multiple checkpoints with a white flag flying out of their window.

At times, they were forced to unpack their car.

She says she knows of others who hadn't been able to leave Sudan yet, and says "in comparison with what we’ve seen other embassies doing, including some much smaller embassies, I don’t know what the Brits did do except get some of their own out".

"The situation in Khartoum is worse than it looks. You can’t see the bullet holes in people’s apartments over there."

Just a little earlier we listened in to a Pentagon briefing, where Gen Pat Ryder was asked a variety of Sudan-related questions, including why the US wasn't sending planes in to get Americans out.

It followed a busy news day, largely about evacuations, with a growing number of countries reported to have had diplomats and/or citizens evacuated from Sudan's capital. An EU diplomatic source, for instance, told the BBC earlier that more than 1,100 EU citizens had left the country.

The UK evacuated diplomats and their families on Sunday, but an estimated 4,000 UK citizens remain in the country. The US says it has deployed intelligence agents to secure land evacuation routes for American citizens leaving the country.

Speaking in Parliament earlier, UK Development Minister Andrew Mitchell said officials were looking at every possibility to get British nationals out of Sudan - and insisted the government had learned lessons from the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal.

Meanwhile, we've had conflicting reports from the Sudanese army and Egypt's foreign ministry, with the former claiming an Egyptian military attaché has been killed in gunfire, though Egypt said it wasn't true.

We've not been able to verify those claims, but stay with us as we continue to bring you the latest as we hear it.

Another Kenyan student, Abraham Isak, has told the BBC's Bella Hassan he is stranded in Qandarif town, which borders Ethiopia, without any way of accessing money.

"The biggest problem was that we spent all of our money on transport to flee," he said, adding there is no more money left to complete his escape.

"Now where we are in, we can't get money, as we don’t have any kind of services that allow us to receive money from our family to buy tickets and escape the war safely."

A Kenyan student has told the BBC's Natasha Booty that she is hungry, sick, weak and that part of her school is occupied by one of the fighting forces.

Mu’mia Dawe is a student at the International University of Africa in Khartoum and says she is currently stranded there.

"Half of our school has been occupied by the - I don’t know if it’s the military or what - but the faculty of medicine has become entirely as if it’s their camp."

She said she is simply waiting for the Kenyan government to "rescue" her, despite some of her fellow students of other nationalities already being evacuated by their respective embassies.

Amar, who lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, was visiting family in the country at the time fighting started.

He says the situation in Sudan is "scary" as gunfire can be heard nearing the house he is sheltering in, in Omdurman, Khartoum's twin city.

The Egyptian foreign ministry has rejected claims a diplomat has been killed in Khartoum.

In a statement on Facebook, the Egyptian ambassador to Sudan, Hani Salah, says all members of the country's diplomatic mission are safe.

It comes after the Sudanese Armed Forces put out a Facebook statement (see the below post), claiming Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fighters had shot dead an assistant military attaché while he was driving his car in the Sudanese capital.

An Egyptian diplomat is said to have been killed by gunfire in Khartoum, according to the Sudanese army.

The Sudanese Armed Forces claimed, in a statement on Facebook, that an assistant military attaché - a title given to military or national security advisers to diplomats - was shot dead by Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fighters while driving in the capital.

The BBC has not seen confirmation from the Egyptian government of the death, or been able to verify the army's claims of who is responsible for any shooting.

Gen Pat Ryder was just asked whether the US Department of Defense had been in contact with either side in the Sudanese conflict.

Ryder says there has been US contact with both the generals leading the Sudanese armed forces as well as the RSF.

"I am not going to get into the specifics of what those conversations entailed," Ryder said, though he added they were related to the evacuation of American personnel, as well as to maintain "situational awareness".

The Pentagon briefing is now over.

Ryder's asked whether he has knowledge of Russia supporting the war in Sudan.

He says he can't be sure, but that he has seen reports suggesting the Russian mercenary Wagner Group have been in touch with - or tried to contact - Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

"We vehemently oppose any outside influences perpetuating the conflict," Ryder adds.

When asked about why the US was not sending planes in to get Americans out of Sudan, Gen Pat Ryder said the military was in talks with the US state department on the issue.

He said the department was communicating with Americans wishing to leave Sudan to find out what the best way was for them to get out of the country.

Ryder said the US military was on standby and looking at options should the state department call on them to support the evacuation of Americans out of Sudan.

He said the US military was also keeping an open line of communication with allies on the ground about their own operations.

Image source, Getty Images

Over now to the briefing with the Pentagon's Press Secretary, Air Force Brig Gen Pat Ryder.

Ryder starts off by thanking service members in their efforts with the state department to evacuate US government personnel from Sudan on behalf of Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin.

US forces carried out the operation with precision, he says.

He says Secretary Austin has committed to fully supporting the US state department's efforts in Sudan.

We've just been listening in to a media briefing at the White House, where US national security adviser Jake Sullivan was taking questions on all kinds of issues, including the situation in Sudan.

He confirmed the US government was working to help its citizens leave Sudan, with intelligence agents reportedly across the evacuation route to help facilitate safe travel by land from Khartoum to Port Sudan in the south east. From there, people are being helped to get out of the country.

When asked, Sullivan also said there was no plan currently in place to send US peacekeeping troops to Sudan.

We're about to listen in to another briefing now, from the Pentagon, where we expect Sudan to come up again. Stay with us for the key lines.

Asked if the government should be doing more to encourage US citizens to leave dangerous countries, Jake Sullivan tells reporters Americans are a free people and the state department can't dictate "where they travel".

The White House's national security adviser says officials have been consistent in their messages about the risks in Sudan, adding that the public needs to understand it is "not standard practice" for the US military to be sent into war zones to extract all US citizens.

Sullivan notes the government didn't do so in Libya, Syria, Yemen or even Ukraine.

He says the operation in Afghanistan in 2021 was "essentially a unique case" because the US had been involved in a 20-year war there.

Sullivan adds the government will "go to great lengths" to assist their citizens' departure and protect them from harm, but there "should not be a broad expectation" there will be a "massive military operation" to evacuate people every time.

Sullivan is now asked whether the US will send peacekeeping troops to Sudan.

He says that is not being considered at this point and that he doesn't expect it will be.

Asked for details on the contingency plans he said were in place, Sullivan says the US has the kind of assets to protect its people should they come under threat.

He adds the plan that is currently in place to protect the evacuation route is the right way to proceed.

Sullivan is asked now who is responsible for the security of the US embassy.

Sullivan says he doesn't want to get into specifics, but that there was a contingency plan in place to protect the embassy compound.

He stresses officials intend to resume working at the embassy when it is safe to do so.

Image source, Getty Images

More now from the media briefing with Jake Sullivan, who is asked how boots are on the ground to help facilitate the evacuation of US citizens in Sudan.

He says the US has not put boots on the ground other than for a brief period when they sent the military in to evacuate personnel.

He says intelligence agents are across the evacuation route to help facilitate safe travel by land from Khartoum to Port Sudan.

Sullivan says officials have seen more regular convoys carrying US nationals travelling on that route.

From that point, the US is being helped by neighbouring countries to help get its citizens out of the country, he says.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan has confirmed the US government is working to facilitate citizens leaving Sudan.

Speaking at a daily media briefing, he says intelligence and other military assets have been deployed to secure land routes for evacuation.

Sullivan confirms some US citizens have begun to arrive in Port Sudan in the south east of the country, where they are being helped to get out of the country.

Ece Göksedef
Live reporter

Image source, Zulfikar E.

I've spoken to a Turkish citizen in Khartoum, waiting to be evacuated by the Turkish authorities.

Zulfikar E, 28, said he can see the military tanks through his window and is worried about his life.

"The electricity and water were totally cut for the last five days. Only today we have some internet and electricity, that's how I could charge my phone."

The phone connection cut out several times while we were talking.

When I asked if he could find drinking water or food, he said, "Yes, during Muslim prayer times."

"We have a Whatsapp group with our neighbours. When it's prayer time, which is five times a day, the soldiers stop fighting and pray for seven or eight minutes.

"And everyone writes in the WhatsApp group which store is open at that time. We all go and buy whatever we can. The stores are mostly closed other than during the prayer times because the soldiers loot them."

Image source, Zulfikar E.

The evacuation efforts continue mostly through Saudi Arabia ports for some countries in Asia.

• The first group of Chinese citizens has been evacuated, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, which didn’t give a specific number
• Saudi Arabia’s army evacuated 91 people, including its own and Bangladesh citizens. It also evacuated 66 citizens from different countries (Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Tunisia, Pakistan, India, Bulgaria, Philippines, Canada and Burkina Faso) including officials and diplomats

• Japan and South Korea have deployed forces to nearby countries and are preparing for evacuations

• India's foreign ministry said "about 500 Indians have reached Port Sudan. More on their way"
• Indonesia had moved 538 nationals from Khartoum to Port Sudan, with another group of 289 due to travel in a second phase
• The Philippines said Monday it would begin evacuating nearly 700 Filipinos "within the next 24 hours" on buses to Egypt