Operation Kaveri: 231 Indian evacuees leave Jeddah in Ahmedabad flight

JEDDAH [Saudi Arabia]: Under Operation Kaveri, the 10th flight carrying Indian nationals left Jeddah as fighting continues in conflict-ridden Sudan, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Tuesday. The flight has 231 passengers onboard and is en route to Ahmedabad.

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."

Earlier on Monday, a total of 186 Indians from strife-torn Sudan arrived in Kochi under Operation Kaveri on the 9th outbound flight. "#OperationKaveri continues to bring Indians back home.

The flight carrying 186 passengers touches down in Kochi," Bagchi tweeted on Monday. The Kochi-bound flight on Sunday departed from Jeddah with 186 passengers. The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Monday tweeted: "With almost 1400 Indians evacuated in IAF aircraft over the past few days, two C-130 J aircraft have evacuated 260 personnel including elders who were above 90 years of age & one above 102 years of age."

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.

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. 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. Sudan is experiencing bloodshed as a result of clashes between the army and paramilitary forces.

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.

Committed to ensuring that no Indian national is left behind in Sudan, India has deployed its military planes and warships in the war-torn country to bring its citizens safely under Operation Kaveri.