137 more Indians reach Jeddah as Operation Kaveri continues

PORT SUDAN: The 21st batch of 137 Indians, who were stranded in Sudan, arrived in Jeddah from Port Sudan in an IAF C-130J aircraft on Wednesday. As fighting continues in the strife-torn African country, India has intensified its Operation Kaveri to rescue all the Indians from Sudan.

Apprising of a fresh batch of 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."

Earlier, under Operation Kaveri, the 21st batch of 137 Indians was taken in an IAF C-130J aircraft from Port Sudan to Jeddah. Informing about the same, the official spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs, Arindam Bagchi tweeted, "#OperationKaveri IAF C-130J aircraft with 21st batch of evacuees leaves Port Sudan. 137 passengers are on their way 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.