India's 'Operation Kaveri' to rescue its citizens from crisis-ridden Sudan intensified as another plane carrying 128 Indians landed at the Jeddah airport in Saudi Arabia on Thursday.
Confirming the development, India's junior Foreign Minister V. Muraleedharan tweeted: "Another IAF C-130J flight under #OperationKaveri arrived at Jeddah with 128 Indians, the fourth aircraft from Sudan. Efforts are on to ensure that all Indians, who arrived in Jeddah will be sent to India at the earliest."
This was the sixth batch of Indians to be evacuated from Sudan, taking the total number of evacuees to nearly 1,100 persons, India's MEA spokesman Arindam Bagchi said.
Course of Operation Kaveri
Earlier this week, New Delhi launched 'Operation Kaveri' following a high-level meeting presided by PM Narendra Modi.
The Indian Navy has deployed two warships INS Sumedha and INS Teg to safely evacuate an estimated 3,000 nationals currently stuck in Sudan's capital Khartoum and other cities.
On the other hand, two Indian Air Force's (IAF) C-130 J transport aircraft are flying from Port Sudan to the Saudi city of Jeddah to evacuate Indian citizens.
So far, four flights of IAF's C-130 J planes have landed in Jeddah. While the fourth one arrived with 128 Indian nationals, the third landed with 136 on board. On Wednesday, the first batch of 360 Indians evacuated from Sudan landed in Delhi.
"You can see the ongoing conflict in Sudan. It is like a civil war...A senior Congress leader who was once a CM said, "Modi ji, why are Indians not being evacuated from Sudan?" Indians have taken off from Jeddah, they have been evacuated from Sudan. Ours is not…, " India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said regarding the evacuation efforts.
Clashes in Sudan
On 15 April, violent clashes between the Sudanese regular armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group broke out, with the epicenter in Khartoum. Government forces accused the RSF of mutiny and launched airstrikes against their bases. Abdel Fattah Burhan, the head of the Sudanese military, issued a decree disbanding the RSF. The sides agreed to a three-day truce starting 21 April in connection with the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr.
So far, around 600 people have died in the clashes, the Sudanese Health Ministry has said. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization has reported over 450 deaths and said more than 4,000 people had been injured.
So far, around 600 people have died in the clashes, the Sudanese Health Ministry has said. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization has reported over 450 deaths and said more than 4,000 people had been injured.