Saudi Arabia announced on Saturday that more than 150 people, including Pakistani nationals, foreign diplomats, and officials, were evacuated from Sudan, marking the first announced evacuation of civilians since fighting broke out.
The kingdom’s naval forces carried out the evacuation with the support of other branches of the army, according to a statement by the Saudi foreign ministry. The ministry also reported the safe arrival of 91 Saudi citizens and around 66 nationals from 12 other countries.
The foreigners included diplomats and international officials, the statement said, without providing further details. The Saudi state-run Al-Ekhbariya television released videos of warships approaching Jeddah’s port on Saturday, where officials and soldiers distributed sweets to the evacuees.
فيديو | الباحث السياسي د.فهيم الحامد: قيادة المملكة جعلت من العيد عيدين ورسمت الابتسامة على أهالي المواطنين ورعايا الدول الصديقة بإجلائهم من السودان #الإخبارية pic.twitter.com/9zzKiH3VEp
— قناة الإخبارية (@alekhbariyatv) April 22, 2023
The conflict between the forces loyal to Sudan’s military chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and those of his deputy-turned-rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo erupted on April 15 and has claimed hundreds of lives and left thousands injured.
Earlier, Foreign Secretary Asad Majeed Khan held a follow-up virtual meeting on Saturday with Pakistan’s Missions in Sudan and neighbouring countries to discuss modalities for the safe evacuation of Pakistanis from Sudan.
In a tweet, he said: “We had an in-depth discussion on finalizing plans for safely and quickly evacuating our citizens from Sudan”.
A day earlier, Pakistan has issued an advisory to its nationals stranded in the crisis-hit Sudan, asking them to exercise caution as clashes re-erupted in the North African country hours after a truce.
Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said that the Pakistani Embassy in Khartoum was in contact with the Pakistanis through WhatsApp group.
Pakistan finalising plan for safe evacuation of nationals stranded in Sudan
