A C-17 Globemaster-III aircraft of the IAF evacuated 192 individuals in another "remarkable" rescue operation from the conflict-torn Sudan in a "non-stop operation of nearly 24 hours," with a refuelling stop at Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.
Since initiating "Operation Kaveri," India has been able to remove 3,862 persons from Sudan. The C-17 mission comes after the IAF sent out a C-130J 'Super Hercules' aircraft to rescue 121 Indians from a small runway at Wadi Seyidna airport, which is located approximately 40 kilometres north of Khartoum in Sudam, in "a daring night operation" on April 27-28.
The C-17, in turn, took off from the Hindon airbase in the intervening night between last Wednesday and Thursday. The aircraft flew through the night to land in the early morning hours at Jeddah. “It took excess fuel at Jeddah to avoid a situation of non-availability of fuel and delays in Sudan,” an IAF officer said.
India completes risky evacuation of Hakki Pikki tribe members from Sudan
India has evacuated dozens of members of the Hakki Pikki tribe of Karnataka from war torn Sudan. Elaborating on the journey from western region of Darfur to the Saudi port of Jeddah via Port Sudan, a member of the community expressed gratitude to the Government of India and said they spent four days and three nights in buses that were provided to them by the Indian Embassy in Khartoum.
“Our batch consisted of 71 Hakki Pikki members and we had to travel around two thousand kilometres from El Fashir to Port Sudan. We were divided into two buses that carried us from El Fashir,” said Prabhu Dass, a member of the Hakki Pikki tribe who coordinated with the Indian Embassy regarding the evacuation.