More than 150 stranded Indian evacuees reached Gujarat’s Rajkot bus stand, on Tuesday late night, from war-torn Sudan under Operation Kaveri .

At the bus stand, the evacuees were welcomed with roses and toffees and the drums were played to welcome them.

ADM Rajkot S J Khachar, who was there at the Rajkot bus stand to receive the evacuees, said that 156 people, who have reached earlier in Agemdabad from Sudan, have reached Rajkot and will be sent to their houses and earlier two senior citizens were sent back to their homes by ambulance.

“This is only possible because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We have reached safely because of Narendra Modi. We met our family members. We are very thankful to PM Modi,” one of the evacuees said.

“I am very happy to be back in India. The situation in Sudan is very bad. The civil war is going on in the country. It was not impossible to come out in such a situation thanks to PM Modi, the Indian Navy, the Indian Air Force, the External Affairs Ministry, and the Embassy of Sudan,” another evacuee said.

Another evacuee stated that she is very grateful to the Indian government, PM Modi and the Indian military. All the arrangements were great and smooth.

Earlier, on Tuesday morning, 231 Indian evacuees reached Gujarat’s Ahmedabad from Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said.

“Another #OperationKaveri flight lands in Ahmedabad. 231 more passengers have reached home safely,” the EAM tweeted.

This was the 10th flight carrying Indian nationals that left Jeddah earlier on Tuesday.

Taking to Twitter, the Ministry of External Affairs official spokesperson Arindam Bagchi wrote, “#OperationKaveri 10th outbound flight carrying Indian evacuees from Jeddah. 231 passengers are en route to Ahmedabad.”

The United Nations humanitarian coordinator in Sudan has warned that the humanitarian crisis in the country is turning into a “full flown catastrophe” and that the risk of spillover into neighbouring countries was worrisome.

“It has been more than two weeks of devastating fighting in Sudan, a conflict that is turning Sudan’s humanitarian crisis into a full-blown catastrophe,” Abdou Dieng, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in the country, told a briefing of member states via video link.

Fighting is underway in Khartoum as the UN warns that Sudan is at a humanitarian “breaking point”.

Rival military forces accuse each other of new violations of a ceasefire that they had just agreed to extend as their devastating conflict enters a third week.

Sudan continues to face bloodshed as a result of clashes between the army and paramilitary forces.

Earlier, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Sunday said that nearly 2300 evacuee Indians have reached the country.

“A C-130 Indian Airforce flight has landed in New Delhi with 40 passengers. With this flight, around 2,300 people have reached India,” EAM Jaishankar tweeted. (ANI)

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Indian nationals who were evacuated from Sudan expressed gratitude to the Government of India after landing in Delhi on Wednesday evening.

Another group of 62 Indian nationals that departed from Jeddah has arrived in Delhi.

Sanjay Singh resident of Dewaria said, “I was stranded in Sudan amid the firing and bombing. I felt like we will not be able to return home, however, with the cooperation of the Government of India and Modiji it feels as if we have returned to earth once again.”

Another man, Surya Vishwakarma, a resident of Uttar Pradesh said,” Operation Kaveri is successful. We feel so safe here.”

To ensure no Indian is left behind, the Government of India has intensified its Operation Kaveri.

Earlier, a batch of 137 Indians was brought from Port Sudan to Jeddah on Wednesday.

Apprising of more Indians reaching Jeddah, the Indian embassy in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday tweeted, “#OperationKaveri IAF C-130J aircraft with 21st batch of evacuees brings 137 Indians from Port Sudan to Jeddah.”

The two warring factions in Sudan, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) agreed to a seven-day ceasefire, according to a statement of the foreign ministry of South Sudan on Tuesday, reported CNN.

The statement added that the two sides also said that they would send representatives for peace talks “to be held at an agreed venue of their choice.”

Neither SAF nor RSF commented on the report on their official channels.

Previous ceasefires haven’t been able to put an end to the violence between the opposing factions across the nation. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the commander of the Sudanese army, and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the leader of the RSF, failed to reach an agreement, and in the middle of April, there were violent skirmishes between the two sides that resulted in at least 528 deaths and large-scale migration of refugees from the country, CNN reported.

Tuesday’s announcement came after the UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR) warned that more than 800,000 people may migrate to other nations as continuous violence impedes convoys to evacuate people from Sudan’s major ports. (Always First)

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Another group of Sri Lankans have been evacuated from Sudan with the assistance of Saudi Arabia.

The Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Sri Lanka Khalid Hamoud Al-Kahtani stated that the group was among 212 people who had been evacuated from Sudan.

Ambassador Khalid Hamoud Al-Kahtani that the evacuees had arrived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia last evening (01).

The evacuations are being conducted under the directives of the Saudi Kingdom’s Leadership.

The group evacuated yesterday consisted of 41 Saudi citizens and 171 people from Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, the Philippines, Comoros, Ukraine, Madagascar, the UK, Syria and the USA. 

They were transported by the Saudi King’s ship “Abha”, bringing the total number of evacuees from Sudan since the evacuations began to approximately 5409 persons consisting of 225 Saudi citizens and 5184 individuals from 102 nationalities.

The Saudi Kingdom has expressed its keenness to provide all the necessary needs in preparation for facilitating their departure to their countries. 

The evacuations come after fighting broke out between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan on 15 April in which at least 400 people have been killed. (NewsWire)

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Another group of citizens from various countries have been evacuated by Saudi Arabia from crisis-hit Sudan, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Sri Lanka Khalid Hamoud Al-Kahtani said. 

Ambassador Al-Kahtani said in a statement that the continuing evacuation efforts are being made by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under the directives of the Kingdom’s leadership.

He further stated that 5 Saudi nationals arrived in the city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday evening.

Meanwhile, 198 people from Russia, the UK, China, the USA, Uzbekistan, Yemen, Singapore, Cambodia, Malaysia and Pakistan had also been evacuated as of last evening. 

The Saudi Ambassador stated that the evacuation was carried out through the ship of His Majesty the King “Abha” of the Kingdom.

The evacuations carried out as of yesterday bring the total number of evacuees from Sudan, since the start of the evacuation operations, to 2351 people consisting of 119 Saudi citizens, and 2232 people of 67 nationalities.

A group of 13 Sri Lankans were also evacuated with the assistance of Saudi Arabia, from Sudan and arrived in Jeddah last morning (26).

The Ambassador added that Saudi Arabia is keen to provide foreign nationals with all the basic needs in preparation for facilitating their departure to their countries.

The evacuations come after fighting broke out between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan on 15 April in which at least 400 people have been killed. (NewsWire)

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The first group of Sri Lankan citizens have been safely evacuated from crisis-hit Sudan, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry said on Wednesday (26).

Taking to Twitter, Minister Sabry stated that the group was evacuated to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and was welcomed by the Acting Consulate General of the Consulate General of Sri Lanka in Jeddah.

Minister Ali Sabry further extended his gratitude to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for facilitating the safe evacuation of the Sri Lankan citizens from Sudan.

The evacuation comes after fighting broke out between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan on 15 April in which at least 400 people have been killed.

Commenting on the Sudan crisis, Foreign Minister Ali Sabry stated yesterday that Sri Lanka is actively working on the safe evacuation of its citizens from Sudan and that it has been closely following the situation of Sri Lankans in Sudan.

Minister Sabry also revealed that the safe evacuation of Sri Lankans from Sudan can be achieved in the next few days. (NewsWire)

The first group of Sri Lankans have been successfully evacuated from #Sudan! They were received on disembarking at #Jeddah by our actg.Consulate General @SLinJeddah. We are grateful to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for supporting @KSAMOFA @KSAembassylk @MFA_SriLanka pic.twitter.com/PyadA3LQNf

— M U M Ali Sabry (@alisabrypc) April 26, 2023

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Sri Lanka is actively working on the safe evacuation of its citizens from Sudan, Foreign Minister Ali Sabry said on Wednesday (25). 

Taking to Twitter, the Minister stated that Sri Lanka has been closely following the situation of Sri Lankans in Sudan.

Stating that the safe evacuation of Sri Lankans from Sudan can be achieved in the next few days, Minister Sabry also extended his gratitude to India for its offer of support in this regard. 

At least 400 people have been killed since fighting broke out between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on 15 April.

However, a ceasefire in Sudan so far appears to be holding after taking effect at midnight on Monday (22).

Several countries have already evacuated their citizens and diplomats, while support has also been provided for the safe evacuation of stranded citizens of other nations. (NewsWire)

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Saudi Arabia has become the first country to announce evacuations of its stranded citizens from Sudan, a week after intense fighting broke out there between two rival forces.

The Saudi foreign ministry said “several nationals of brotherly and friendly countries” were being evacuated along with the Saudi citizens. Kuwaiti citizens are among the dozens of people brought to safety but it is not clear which other nationals are involved.

The announcement came after both the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) said they were ready to help evacuate foreign nationals.

The SAF said in a statement Saturday that its leader, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has “agreed to provide the necessary assistance” to facilitate the safe evacuation of foreign citizens from the country in response to “calls from a number of heads of states.”

“The evacuation of all missions whose countries made such a request is expected to begin within the coming hours, as the United States, the UK, France, and China will evacuate their diplomats and nationals by air by military transport aircrafts belonging to their respective armed forces from Khartoum and this is expected to begin immediately,” the SAF said in the statement, posted on its Facebook page.

According to a list released by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday, 91 of its citizens had been evacuated, along with 66 nationals from 12 other countries which included Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Tunisia, Pakistan, India, Bulgaria, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Canada, and Burkina Faso.

It did not provide an exact breakdown of how many evacuees came from each of the countries it listed.

Kuwait thanked Saudi Arabia for evacuating its citizens from Sudan to Jeddah, in a statement released by its foreign ministry on Saturday.

But it did not specify how many Kuwaiti nationals had been evacuated.

Iraq’s Foreign Affairs Ministry told CNN via phone that there had been a “special operation” to evacuate its diplomats from their embassy in the capital Khartoum.

Ministry spokesperson Ahmad al-Sahaaf said the diplomats had been moved to “a safe place in Sudan” following the operation, but declined to give further details.

The developments came as the United States evacuated government personnel in an operation involving special forces.

The mission was led by US Africa Command and conducted in close coordination with the State Department, said Lloyd Austin, the US Secretary of Defense.

Fierce fighting broke out in Sudan last Saturday between the SAF and the paramilitary RSF, led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.

The two are former allies but tensions between them arose during negotiations to integrate the RSF into the country’s military as part of plans to restore civilian rule.

More than 420 people have been killed and 3,700 injured in the fighting, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), and on the ground the humanitarian situation is worsening.

The UN says people are increasingly fleeing areas hit by fighting, including Khartoum. Up to 20,000 refugees have arrived in neighboring Chad, the UN says.

On Saturday, fresh clashes between the two groups shattered a three-day ceasefire declared for the Muslim holiday of Eid.

Fighting was reported in Khartoum on Saturday, with witnesses telling CNN fierce clashes were taking place in the vicinity of the presidential palace and the sounds of explosions and warplanes flying overhead could be heard.

Dagalo said he spoke to French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna on Saturday and they discussed “the current situation, the reasons [that] led to the exacerbation of the situation” and the possibility of opening evacuation corridors.

Also on Saturday, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak chaired an emergency meeting to discuss the situation.

CNN has learned that British evacuation efforts will not be happening imminently, but a government spokesperson told CNN they were doing “everything possible” to support British nationals.

A spokesperson for the European Union said that an estimated 1,500 citizens from various EU countries are currently in Sudan.

“They are facing a very difficult situation and their safety is a priority. We urge both sides (the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces) to stop fighting and allow for safe passage out of the country,” the spokesperson said, adding the EU was working with member states to find solutions and get these people out of the country.

It is unclear how many US citizens are in Sudan. The State Department does not keep official counts of US citizens in foreign countries and Americans are not required to register when they go abroad. US State Department officials told staffers estimated 16,000 American citizens in Sudan, most of whom are dual nationals. (CNN)

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