Operation Kaveri: INS Teg evacuates 288 Indians from crisis hit Sudan

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Indian Navy ship, INS Teg, successfully evacuated 288 stranded Indians under Operation Kaveri from the crisis-hit Sudan on Saturday.

This is the 14th batch of stranded citizens heading to Jeddah.

“14th batch of Indians leaves Port Sudan under #OperationKaveri. 288 passengers onboard INS Teg are enroute to Jeddah,” Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted.

Previously, INS Sumedha, which is stationed at Port Sudan, had also left the crisis-hit country with 300 passengers onboard for Jeddah.

As many as 2,400 Indians have evacuated from Sudan, where the country is experiencing bloodshed as a result of clashes between the army and paramilitary forces.

“Nearly 2,400 Indians evacuated! INS Sumedha departs from Port Sudan with 300 passengers onboard for Jeddah. 13th batch of Indians evacuated under #OperationKaveri,” Bagchi said in a tweet on Friday.

The Indian government under Operation Kaveri, is set to evacuate about 3,000 Indian-origin passengers from Sudan.

On Saturday evening, a total of 365 Indians from Sudan arrived in New Delhi under Operation Kaveri.

“More Indians come back home under #OperationKaveri. 365 passengers have just landed in New Delhi,” External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar tweeted on Saturday.

“Another flight carrying Indian evacuees departs from Jeddah to New Delhi. 365 passengers onboard this 6th outbound flight are on their way back home,” MEA official spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted.

On Saturday morning, a flight carrying 231 Indian passengers evacuated from conflict-torn Sudan, reached New Delhi.

The Indian evacuees shouted slogans like “Bharat Mata ki jai,” and “Vande Mataram” and also lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar for rescuing them from Sudan under Operation Kaveri.

Under Operation Kaveri, a total of 1,191 passengers have been evacuated from Sudan of which 117 are currently under quarantine as they are not vaccinated against Yellow Fever. The passengers will be released after seven days if they remain asymptomatic, according to an official press release.

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. (BS)