A week into the launch of Operation Kaveri, nearly 3000 Indians have been rescued from the strife-torn African nation of Sudan, the Ministry of External Affairs has said.
Arindam Bagchi, official spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs, India, tweeted on Monday morning that Indian Air Force's C-130J flight carrying 16th batch of evacuees left Port Sudan with 122 passengers on board. "Nearly 3000 persons have now left Sudan under Operation Kaveri," the tweet read. He also shared images of senior citizens being evacuated from Sudan on wheelchairs.
Meanwhile, the ninth outbound flight from Jeddah, where India had set up a transit camp for people who left Sudan, left for Kochi on Monday morning. The flight had onboard 186 passengers. Earlier on Sunday, India had evacuated passengers from Jeddah to New Delhi and Bengaluru.
Aid arrives in Sudan
The warring factions of military and the RSF in Sudan has announced extension of ceasefire to 72 more hours. The decision was taken to allow the safe passage of civilians and aid.
However, despite the ceasefire, the clashes continued on both sides over the weekends. Khartoum residents reported hearing artillery fire and explosions on Sunday. There were also reports of fighters ransacking houses.
Amid this, Red Cross aid has arrived in Sudan with an aircraft carrying eight tons of emergency medical aid landing in the country on Sunday. The International Committee of the Red Cross said the aircraft carried eight tons of emergency medical aid.
Over two-thirds of hospitals in areas with active fighting are out of service due to acute shortage of medical supplies, health workers, water, and electricity.
"The supplies, including anaesthetics, dressings, sutures, and other surgical materials, are enough to treat more than 1,000 people wounded in the conflict," the ICRC said. The aircraft took off earlier in the day from Jordan and safely landed in the city of Port Sudan.
"The hope is to get this material to some of the most critically busy hospitals in the capital of Khartoum and other hot spots," said Patrick Youssef, ICRC's regional director for Africa.
Youssef said the agency has been in contact with the top command of both sides to ensure that medical assistance could reach hospitals safely. "With this news today, we are really hoping that this becomes part of a steady coordination mechanism to allow other flights to come in," he said.
Youssef said more medical aid was ready to be flown into Khartoum pending necessary clearances and security guarantees.
(With inputs from PTI)