‘Kept guns on our chest': Indians returning from Sudan narrate their ordeal
Under Operation Kaveri, citizens were flown by air and through ship from Port Sudan to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
A day after the Sudan military and paramilitary chiefs agreed on a 72-hour nationwide ceasefire letting countries begin the evacuation process, India evacuated over 530 of its citizens using military aircraft and a warship. More are set to be taken out of the northeast African country amidst the ongoing crisis.
The citizens who returned to India spoke about the conditions in Sudan and the ordeal they went through within the country.
In a video posted by ANI, one of the citizens can be seen talking about how it was a riot situation in Sudan. He says that the Indian government made arrangements to take them by ship. He also says the citizens were fed by the Indian forces.
Under Operation Kaveri, citizens were flown by the Indian Air Force (IAF) from Port Sudan to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and several others were taken by ship from Sudan port to Jeddah.
The citizen further added that the fighting in Sudan was at an extreme level. He said that it was happening right outside their homes and they were struggling even for food. Another citizen said that they hadn't had any food for the past two to three days.
Another citizen, speaking to ANI said, “The RSF - paramilitary force in Sudan - were close to our company. Early morning 9 am, they entered our company and began firing and looting us. They kept us hostage for eight hours. They kept their guns on our heads and chest and looted us. They destroyed everything in the company. They destroyed files and stole our laptops and mobile phones. We then contacted the embassy… We didn't have any food and we then hid in a village. We arranged for diesel and asked the embassy to arrange buses for us to be evacuated.”
Minister of state for external affairs V Muraleedharan travelled to Jeddah on Tuesday to oversee repatriation efforts and received the Indians after their arrival in the Saudi port city. “Onward journey to India for all who arrived in Jeddah will commence shortly,” he said in a tweet.
Most of the Indian nationals who had gathered in Port Sudan till Tuesday have now been evacuated to Saudi Arabia. Indian authorities are still exploring various options for evacuating stranded Indian nationals from Khartoum and other locations, including the use of military airbases located near the capital city. There were about 3,000 Indian citizens in Sudan when the fighting erupted, with most of them in Khartoum.
According to United Nations agencies, the fighting has killed 459 people and injured more than 4,000. Many areas in Sudan are without electricity and water, and food shortages have been reported in Khartoum and other cities.