Operation Kaveri: Group of 16 Indian evacuees departs from Jeddah on Lucknow-bound flight

File Photo/PTI

A group of 16 Indian evacuees departed from Saudi Arabia's Jeddah on a Lucknow-bound flight on Thursday as Operation Kaveri continues to rescue people from battle-torn Sudan.

Taking to Twitter, the official spokesperson of MEA, Arindam Bagchi wrote, "#OperationKaveri update A group of 16 evacuees departed from Jeddah onboard a flight destined for Lucknow."

Prior to this evacuation flight, another one carrying 14 evacuees departed from Jeddah for Mumbai, Bagchi said on Twitter.

Meanwhile, the 22nd batch with 135 stranded Indian evacuees, earlier, left on IAF C-130J aircraft from war-torn Sudan for Saudi Arabia's Jeddah. Earlier on Wednesday, 62 Indian nationals reached New Delhi.

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 from the foreign ministry of South Sudan on Tuesday.

In a telephonic conversation with South Sudan's President Salva Kiir Mayardit, the warring parties agreed to the seven-day truce from May 4 to 11.

Also Read: Sudan conflict: Sudanese fleeing clashes flood port city, borders with Egypt

"The two principals, General Abdel Fatah Al Burhan, the Chairman of the Sovereign Council and Commander in Chief of Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo Leader of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), have agreed in principle for a seven-day truce from May 4th to 11th. They also agreed to name their representatives to the talks," the statement read.

In the telephone conversation, South Sudan's President stressed the importance of a longer ceasefire and naming of representatives to peace talks to be held at an agreed venue.

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, leading to large-scale migration of refugees from the country, reported CNN.

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