First Batch Of Indians Leaves Sudan Under 'Operation Kaveri'

The first group of Indians stranded in Sudan has left the conflict-hit nation in an Indian Navy warship for Saudi Arabia's Jeddah, the Foreign Ministry said today.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted photos of the Indians on board the INS Sumedha. Some held the national flag to thank the government for arranging for their evacuation.

"First batch of stranded Indians leave Sudan under Operation Kaveri. INS Sumedha with 278 people onboard departs Port Sudan for Jeddah," Mr Bagchi tweeted.

The group of Indians evacuated from Sudan, where fierce fighting has been raging between the army and a paramilitary group, also include children.

India had positioned two transport aircraft in Jeddah and the INS Sumedha at Port Sudan as part of Operation Kaveri. The Indians will be brought home after they reach Jeddah.

There were some 3,000 Indians across Sudan.

The security situation in Sudan continues to be volatile with reports of fierce fighting coming from several locations in the country's capital Khartoum.

At a meeting on Friday last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had told officials to prepare the contingency plan to evacuate Indians from Sudan.

Sporadic gunfire rang out in parts of Khartoum today despite a US-brokered agreement between the warring generals to cease fire for 72 hours to pave the way for talks on a more lasting truce, news agency AFP reported.

Ten days of heavy fighting, including air strikes and artillery barrages, have killed hundreds of people, many of them civilians, and left some neighbourhoods of greater Khartoum in ruins.

But in other areas there has been a reduction in the intensity of fighting since foreign governments scrambled road convoys, aircraft and ships to get their nationals out since the weekend.

The fighting has pitted forces loyal to Sudan army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against those of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The RSF emerged from the Janjaweed militia that then-president Omar al-Bashir unleashed in the Darfur region two decades ago, leading to war crimes charges against Bashir and others.

The Forces of Freedom and Change - the main civilian bloc which the two generals ousted from power in a 2021 coup - said the truce would allow for "dialogue on the modalities of a permanent ceasefire".

With inputs from AFP