NEW DELHI: Under ‘Operation Kaveri’, another Indian Air Force C-130J flight took off from conflict-torn Sudan with 135 passengers onboard for Jeddah on Friday.
“Another IAF C-130J flight takes off from Port Sudan with 135 passengers onboard. This is the 11th batch of stranded Indians heading to Jeddah,” Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted.
Earlier in the morning, the IAF C-130J flight on Friday(today) evacuated the 10th batch of 135 Indian passengers from Port Sudan to Jeddah after the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) agreed to extend their ceasefire amid ongoing violence in the capital Khartoum and the western Darfur region.
“#OperationKaveri progresses further. 10th batch of evacuees with 135 passengers onboard IAF C-130J flight departs Port Sudan for Jeddah,” tweeted the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson, Arindam Bagchi, informing about the evacuation.
This comes after the army said it would extend the ceasefire “for an additional 72 hours” following mediation efforts by Saudi Arabia and the United States in the final hours of the repeatedly broken three-day truce, due to end at midnight (22:00 GMT) on Thursday.
The RSF also said it approved the extended truce, adding that the proposal came from two diplomatic groupings that include the US, Saudi Arabia, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates.
On Thursday, warplanes patrolled over the capital’s northern suburbs as fighters on the ground exchanged artillery and heavy machine-gun fire.
The previous ceasefire has not stopped the fighting but created enough of a lull for tens of thousands of Sudanese, as well as, foreign nationals to leave for safer areas and for foreign nations to evacuate hundreds of their citizens by land and sea.
Sudan is experiencing bloodshed as a result of clashes between the army and paramilitary forces. Even though there is a 72-hour ceasefire, there have been allegations of violence.
Fighting has erupted between soldiers loyal to Sudanese army leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy, paramilitary Rapid Support Soldiers (RSF) commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.
Committed to ensuring that no Indian national is left behind in Sudan, India has deployed its military planes and warships in the war-torn country. (ANI)