The fighting in Sudan is down to a power struggle within the country's military leadership.

Clashes are between the regular army and a paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Since a coup in 2021, Sudan has been run by a council of generals - the two men at the centre of the violence disagree over plans to return the country to civilian rule.

Hundreds have been killed and other nations are scrambling to evacuate their citizens. The first Britons arrived in the UK earlier.

Many in Sudan are without water and electricity, and thousands are trying to flee during a fragile ceasefire.

Charley Adams
Reporting from Stansted Airport

I'm still speaking to the first tranche of evacuees who have landed at Stansted Airport, and Nemar has been talking to reporters about her experience.

She says travelling from her home to the airport was "very frightening".

There were burnt houses and burnt cars everywhere and other people saw dead bodies.

"I am very happy to be here. The British government has been marvellous - I feel very proud that I have made it here."

Nemar thanked the government for organising the evacuation.

"I am here to meet my sister and her children," says Nemar, who lives in Acton in London.

After speaking to reporters, Nemar was embraced by her sister. Both women clung to each other and were very emotional.

Charley Adams
Reporting from Stansted Airport

Shama was one of the first people off the first bus of evacuees from Sudan who arrived at Stansted a little earlier.

Surrounded by reporters and excitable family members she said: "We’re safe, we’re in no danger."

She told reporters: "I’m back and no longer scared."

Asked what she thought of the British response to the violence in Sudan, she said: "It was slow, but we’re here.”

She then moved away and was embraced by a relieved family member.

Another woman told me: "Thank you very much, we are so grateful to Britain. I’m happy to come back, it was a nightmare."

Caroline Hawley
Reporting from Cyprus

Sticking with the UK evacuation, the most senior military official overseeing the evacation from Sudan has defended the decision not to escort British nationals to the airport, as some other countries have done.

“This is not a race to get it wrong,” Brigadier Dan Reeve tells the BBC.

“In my professional judgement it would not be safe to bring people together in one location in Khartoum and seek to extract them. We’ve seen incidents of convoys being attacked."

Charley Adams
Live reporter at Stansted Airport

There’s lots of emotion here at Stansted Airport as evacuees from Sudan get off the bus and are met by their family members.

Relatives are waiting with flowers, hoping their family will be on the next bus driving in.

One little boy called out "mum!" when he saw his mother get off the bus.

Amid speaking to members of the press, people are rushing to hug their loved ones, with tears of relief and joy.

Gabriela Pomeroy
Live reporter

Image source, Wathig Ali

I've been speaking to Wathig Ali, a British citizen who has reached the airfield near Khartoum, where British air force planes are evacuating people. He is with his pregnant wife Haifa and his six-year-old son Oday. He says there are 80 people waiting to be evacuated, and 30 British soldiers.

“We are awaiting evacuation now, but we could be here until nightfall. There are two planes here in front of me, but the soldiers will not tell us when we are getting on the plane."

"The British soldiers have been extremely helpful and nice. They have given us food and water. It is not comfortable here, it is very hot and humid. There are lots of kids crying around us. My 6 year old son is very grumpy as he did not sleep all night."

"I brought my mum with me but she does not have a British passport. I tried to persuade the British soldiers to let her on the plane too but they would not let her. It was heart-breaking that I had to say goodbye to my mum, who is in her 70s and quite sickly."

"My wife does not have a British passport so we had to show our marriage certificate and they let her through."

"We had to drive through about ten checkpoints to reach the airbase. But the drive was better than expected. RSF soldiers waved us through a checkpoint, and we saw lots of RSF soldiers relaxing by the side of the road, probably because it was so early in the morning. It looked like they were on holiday."

Jonathan Blake
Political correspondent

The government has no plans to introduce a legal route for people fleeing Sudan to claim asylum in the UK, the home secretary says.

Suella Braverman says the government is focused on supporting British nationals and their dependents.

Asked if the government would look at safe routes for refugees from Sudan, Braverman said: "We have no plans to do that."

"Our focus first and foremost right now, and bearing in mind this is a fast-moving and complex situation, is to support British nationals and their dependents," she says.

James Landale
Diplomatic correspondent

The BBC has learned that the airstrip being used to evacuate British nationals from Sudan is beginning to break up. A well-placed source said the sheer number of aircraft taking off and landing was damaging the surface.

This is raising concerns about how long the airstrip can continue to be used safely for the evacuation. It is understood that a British military engineering team of about 70 personnel has been deployed to help keep the runway viable.

The airstrip – at Wadi Seidna about 20 miles north of Khartoum - is small and officials say it can cope with only a handful of aircraft at any time. But since international evacuations began several days ago, military aircraft have been coming and going 24-hours a day.

The sheer number of night-time landings in particular is apparently causing most damage because the aircraft sometimes touch down less smoothly.

“The runway is beginning to deteriorate,” the source said. “The problem is that so many aircraft are landing the dark and the impact of the wheels is greater.”

The question now will be whether the runway can last long enough to get British nationals out over the next couple of days.

If not, they might then have to take the potential alternative route of travelling to Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast for a possible seaborne evacuation. Government sources said they were aware of the issue about the runway and were confident it would not be a limiting factor in the flights.

Gabriela Pomeroy
Live reporter

Moments ago, we saw the first British national evacuees from Sudan arrive at London Stansted airport.

But back in Sudan, British passport holders and their immediate family members have today been waiting at an airfield outside the capital Khartoum for evacuation flights to the UK, via Cyprus.

Wathig Ali, who is there with his wife and son, said British soldiers had given them food and water, but no clear timeframe for when the planes would take off.

He sent these photos across.

Image source, Wathig Ali

Image source, Wathig Ali

Image source, Wathig Ali

Image source, Wathig Ali

Charley Adams
Live reporter at Stansted Airport

We understand some of the passengers at Stansted have been processed, and it appears they are now getting on what looks like an airport coach.

Image source, Pool

British national evacuees from Sudan have begun disembarking from the plane - the final part in their journey back to the UK.

The plane had travelled from Sudan to Cyprus then onto London.

Charley Adams
Live reporter at Stansted Airport

More detail now on where the evacuees arriving into Stansted Airport will be taken.

We understand the passengers will be brought into a private terminal and then through international arrivals.

We’ll bring you more updates as we get them.

Charley Adams
Live reporter at Stansted Airport

There is speculation over whether the passengers will be taken through international arrivals or taken via bus to a car park to meet volunteers and support workers.

Red Cross staff and local council workers will be greeting the passengers when they arrive.

The first flight carrying Britons has landed at Stansted Airport.

Image source, Pool

Jonathan Blake
Political correspondent

Image source, AFP

Four flights carrying 301 people have departed Khartoum as part of the British operation to evacuate people from Sudan, Downing Street has said.

Four further flights are expected to depart throughout Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters after Prime Minister’s Questions, the PM’s official spokesman said: "Currently we have evacuated 301 people. There is another flight loading right now. The response from Khartoum is running smoothly. Four flights have departed already, another is loading now.

"We're calling everyone forward and we have no issue with capacity, and people are being processed smoothly.

"By the end of today we should have eight flights (in total)," he said.

The flights that had taken off were “full or close to full” and “good numbers” were coming to the strip in a “smooth and orderly flow”.

Some foreign nationals had been flown to safety alongside British nationals but officials were not able to provide a breakdown of the numbers.

The Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden will chair another Cobra meeting on Sudan this afternoon, the spokesman said.

Tom Bateman
Reporting from southern Egypt

A sandstorm kicked up around the border area, adding to the night-time closure of the crossing which is now a lifeline for thousands of Sudanese refugees.

It made the Egyptian side feel deserted last night as busses ferried people north, while concerns grow about a build-up on the Sudanese side.

Some men aged under 50 are sent back to the Sudanese town of Wadi Halfa for further processing, according to evacuees.

Meanwhile, some of those making it across told us they don’t know what they’ll do next.

Hassan Anwar escaped Khartoum with his family, grabbing all he could - two shirts.

“I saw human remains on the streets. Nobody can collect them, nobody can take them and bury them. They are sending rockets to the houses. People are desperate, all of them,” he says.

The release of prisoners has added to the chaos, says Hassan, with car hijackings and mass looting taking place.

“Children are crying every day… it is a crisis,” he says.

He makes a plea: “To the whole world, to the governments and to the UN and everybody: Please save Sudan. Save the people of Sudan.”

Some foreign nationals have also faced long delays at the crossing into Egypt.

British national Einas Khojaly who fled Khartoum with her family told us last night that at least 7 UK passport holders had spent three days and nights at the crossing unable to pass.

Egyptian authorities say in the last four days, 10,000 people have crossed from Sudan into Egypt via two crossing points. They are coordinating with foreign embassies to help their citizens, say officials, while two camps operated by the Red Crescent are providing aid to Sudanese refugees.

A fourth UK flight has left Sudan's capital, Khartoum, Downing Street has said, bringing the total number of evacuees to 301.

The British government says a total of eight planes will depart Sudan by the end of the day.

"The prime minister's official spokesman said: "There is another flight loading right now. The response from Khartoum is running smoothly. Four flights have departed already, another is loading now.

"We're calling everyone forward and we have no issue with capacity, and people are being processed smoothly."

The spokesman added that the "majority" of the people on the planes are British nationals but some will be allies' citizens, he said

Families have also touched down at Istanbul airport after being evacuated from Sudan. It's not clear how many Turkish citizens have got out so far, but two days ago the country's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said it was nearly 1,500.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images