'Kept Riffles On Our Chest': Indians Evacuated From Sudan Narrate Shocking Experience

New Delhi: Amid the 72-hour ceasefire that has been agreed upon by the two warring factions in Sudan, countries have been evacuating their citizens at the speed of light, India being one to recently evacuate its nationals under Operation Kaveri. The Indian Air Force very recently rescued another batch of around 250 trapped Indians from conflict-torn Sudan as part of the rescue effort. More than 250 people were evacuated from Port Sudan by two IAF C-130 J planes. Prior to this, 135 more stranded Indians were rescued from Sudan on Wednesday. The Indians evacuated from violence-hit Sudan, too had a story to tell. They narrated their ordeal and said that the fight was so intense that it became an everyday struggle to even arrange for food. Narrating his experience, one of the Indian nationals evacuated from Sudan told ANI, "The fight was intense. We were struggling for food. The scenario continued for 2-3 days." Sudan is facing violence due to fighting between the army and the paramilitary forces.

There are reports of violence even amid a 72-hour ceasefire. Fighting has been raging between forces loyal to Sudan`s army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

In a separate statement, another evacuated Indian said, "The tent of Rapid Support Forces (RSF) was fixated near our company. Early morning at around 9, the forces entered our company. We were looted." "They kept us, hostage, for 8 hours. They kept riffles at our chest and looted us. Our mobiles were stolen," he told ANI.

#WATCH | Indian nationals evacuated from Sudan, narrate their ordeal in the conflict-torn country. pic.twitter.com/c6zcN84r9G — ANI (@ANI) April 26, 2023

"We kept in touch with the Embassy and told them to arrange for the buses, as we had diesel. The Indian Navy came and treated us well," the Indian national evacuated from Sudan said. The conflict began when a coup in 2021 between Sudan`s military leader and his deputy on the ruling council erupted derailing a plan for a transition to a civilian democracy after the fall of longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019.

'Operation Kaveri`

As the fighting between the Sudanese Army and paramilitary groups intensified in the capital Khartoum, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar informed on Monday that its `Operation Kaveri` to evacuate its citizens from battle-torn Sudan is underway and about 500 Indians had reached Port Sudan.

Taking to Twitter, Jaishankar said, "Operation Kaveri gets underway to bring back our citizens stranded in Sudan. About 500 Indians have reached Port Sudan. More on their way. Our ships and aircraft are set to bring them back home. Committed to assisting all our brethren in Sudan."Previously, France Embassy in India informed that their country has evacuated some Indians along with citizens of 27 other countries as part of its evacuation mission from violence-hit Sudan.

Earlier, on Saturday, Saudi Arabia said it has evacuated 66 citizens of "brotherly and friendly" foreign countries that included a few Indian nationals from the conflict-hit nation. The evacuation came days after Jaishankar spoke to his Saudi Arabia counterpart. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday chaired a high-level meeting to review the security situation in Sudan.

#WATCH | Indian nationals evacuated from #Sudan thank Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia and the Indian govt for the smooth arrangements. pic.twitter.com/oWkRB3tjbo — ANI (@ANI) April 26, 2023

Various countries have successfully evacuated their citizens from the violence-hit North African country. However, there is still an immense concern about the safety of those who still remain in the country, regardless of their nationality, given the ongoing violence and its impact on critical resources like food, water and medical care.