Former ambassadors and analysts say lasting ceasefire vital to thwart attempts to capitalise on unrest

Securing a lasting ceasefire in Sudan is essential in order to limit the opportunity for malign outside actors to intervene in the fighting on a greater scale, former diplomats and analysts have said.

Foreign leaders including the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Israeli officials have offered to help mediate in Sudan, while the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said he had engaged the African Union in an attempt to ensure a long-term ceasefire.

Army and paramilitary opponents the RSF agree to extend fragile truce that was due to end at midnight

The UK’s foreign secretary James Cleverly has been defensive about criticism of UK evacuation efforts from Sudan affecting and delaying efforts by Germany and other European nations to evacuate people.

The BBC has reported that German authorities told it that the British operation to rescue diplomats at the weekend “jeopardised” the efforts of other nations, because it didn’t have the permission of the Sudanese authorities to take place. Cleverly told listeners:

My understanding is we did have permissions for those overflights. I will, of course, look at the circumstances of that. My understanding is we’ve had permissions for those flights. We enjoy a very, very close professional relationship with the German government and the German armed forces that have been on the on the ground.

The extremist putschist forces have attacked the camp of the RSF in the Kafouri area with aviation and artillery. Our forces confronted the aggressor forces … and inflicted heavy losses … and seized their military equipment. The attacks of the putschists and the remnants of the former regime on the camps of our forces come during the humanitarian truce that was allocated to open humanitarian corridors for citizens and residents of brotherly and friendly countries.

António Guterres says ‘conflict will not and must not be resolved on the battlefield’

• Sudan: fighting eases during truce as thousands flee country

The British government is considering a possible seaborne evacuation from Port Sudan, 500 miles from the capital, PA Media reports.

HMS Lancaster and the RFA Cardigan Bay have been sent to the region.

In today’s newsletter: Amid gunsmoke and airstrikes, civilians must choose whether to travel towards uncertain safety, or risk violence by staying behind. What questions face anyone trying to leave – and what might happen if they go?

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Good morning. For at least some of the British nationals attempting to flee the conflict that has broken out in Sudan, this morning is a moment of profound relief: the second of three evacuation flights from an airfield north of Khartoum recently arrived in Cyprus, with a third expected soon. Citizens of Turkey, France, and other countries were also flown out. But for Sudanese people – even those whose close relatives were aboard the UK flights – the exodus may simply have served as a reminder of the dangers from which they have far more limited respite.

A ceasefire between army units loyal to Sudan’s military ruler, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by his former ally Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, came into effect at midnight on Tuesday, and it is supposed to last for two more days. In theory, this should provide an opportunity for civilians to flee the theatres of conflict and reach safe harbour.

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Senior aid worker issues warning over armed seizure of Khartoum lab containing deadly diseases

• Sudan crisis – latest updates

Airstrikes and reports of renewed fighting have threatened a delicate three-day truce in Sudan, while a senior aid worker warned of a potential “huge biological hazard” resulting from the armed seizure of a Khartoum laboratory containing deadly diseases.

A 72-hour ceasefire came into effect across the country at midnight on Monday night and was largely holding. It is intended to give Sudanese people respite from days of bloodshed and allow the wounded to reach already limited medical care. World powers hope it will also provide time for a massive international rescue mission to fly out evacuees.

This blog is now closed. You can find the latest news from Sudan at the links below:

• Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces agree ceasefire, says Blinken
• RAF plane lands in Sudan as UK assesses options for further evacuations
• Sudan: thousands flee Khartoum as civilian casualties escalate
• ‘Very difficult evacuation’: how UK diplomats were rescued

Here’s a short round up of the response by African countries.

Kenya has said it will not be withdrawing its diplomats from Sudan as it wants them to help negotiate a “peaceful solution” to the conflict.