Five Indians among people evacuated by France from Sudan

France has evacuated five Indians along with citizens of 27 other countries as part of its evacuation mission from violence-hit Sudan.

The French embassy in India said on Monday (24) that 388 people from 28 countries, including India, were evacuated.

French diplomatic sources said the evacuation operations launched on Saturday (22) were carried out by the French Air Force using A400M aircraft from the French military base in Djibouti.

They said three evacuation flights operated so far to evacuate approximately 500 people from Sudanese capital Khartoum.

French diplomatic teams and armed forces are taking care of the evacuees in Djibouti, they said. On Sunday (23), Saudi Arabia said it has evacuated from Sudan 66 citizens from “brotherly and friendly” foreign countries that included a few Indian nationals.

People familiar with the matter said in New Delhi that Saudi Arabia evacuated three Indians who were part of the crew of a Saudi flight and they were stuck in Sudanese capital Khartoum.

Sudan has been witnessing deadly fighting between the country’s army and a paramilitary group for the last 11 days that has reportedly left around 400 people dead.

India has already positioned two heavy-lift military transport aircraft in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah and a naval ship at a key port in violence-hit Sudan as part of its contingency plans to evacuate the stranded Indians from that country.

The government on Friday (21) said it was focusing on the safety of over 3,000 Indian citizens currently located across Sudan.

(PTI)