About 3,000 stranded Indians have so far left crisis-hit Sudan for Jeddah as India intensified Operation Kaveri on Friday to rescue stranded citizens from Khartoum. An Indian Air Force C-130J flight carrying 122 stranded Indians, including senior citizens, took off from crisis-hit Sudan.
“IAF C-130J flight carrying 16th batch of evacuees departs from Port Sudan. 122 passengers on board this flight are en route to Jeddah. Nearly 3,000 people have now left Sudan as part of #OperationKaveri,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said on Twitter.
“Respect and respect to our senior citizens evacuated from Sudan. #OperationKaveri,” he added. About 2,300 Indians have been evacuated so far, External Affairs Minister Jaishankar said on Sunday.
“Indian Airforce C-130 flight landed in New Delhi with 40 passengers. About 2,300 people arrived in India on this flight,” EAM Jaishankar tweeted.
An Indian Air Force C-130J aircraft with 40 passengers on board Delhi from Jeddah as part of ‘Operation Kaveri’ continues to evacuate stranded Indians from battle-torn Sudan.
It was the 8th flight of Indian evacuees to take off from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, since the start of Operation Kaveri.
MEA official spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted, “#OperationKaveri 8th flight carrying Indian evacuees takes off from Jeddah. IAF C-130J aircraft with 40 passengers en route to Delhi.”
The seventh flight bound for Bengaluru took off from Jeddah earlier today with 229 passengers on board. “#OperationKaveri brings citizens back home. Destined for Bengaluru, 7th departure flight with 229 passengers takes off from Jeddah,” tweeted MoS Muraleedharan.
As part of Operation Kaveri, 365 Indians from Sudan arrived in New Delhi on Saturday evening, while 231 Indian passengers arrived in the capital on Saturday morning. As a ceasefire has been declared in Sudan, several countries, including India, are trying to evacuate their citizens from the conflict-torn country.
Sudan is experiencing bloodshed due to clashes between the military and paramilitary forces. Although there is a 72-hour ceasefire, there have been allegations of violence.
Fighting broke out between soldiers loyal to Sudanese army leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy, the head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan Dagle.