First batch of Pakistani evacuees from conflict-hit Sudan arrives in Karachi
Last updated on: 28 April,2023 03:15 pm
'We will continue to work until every Pakistani is evacuated and brought home safe,' says Bilawal
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – The first batch of 149 Pakistanis evacuated from clash-hit Sudan arrived safely in Karachi, the Foreign Office spokesperson confirmed on Friday.
Taking to Twitter, FO spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said: “Safe evacuation of every Pakistani and bringing them home safe remains our top priority”.
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has welcomed home the Pakistanis evacuated from Sudan. In a Twitter post, he wrote: “I welcome home first batch of 149 Pakistanis evacuated from Sudan who arrived safely at Karachi via a PIA operated airbus. We will continue to work until every Pakistani in Sudan is evacuated and brought home safe at the earliest”.
— BilawalBhuttoZardari (@BBhuttoZardari) April 28, 2023
Fighting broke out in Sudan on April 15 between forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy-turned-rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). At least 459 people have been killed and more than 4,000 injured as of Tuesday across Africa’s third-biggest country, according to UN agencies.
Saudi Arabia has received several rounds of evacuees by air and sea, starting with boats that arrived in Jeddah last week carrying 150 people including foreign diplomats and officials.
On Monday, a C-130 Hercules military plane flew dozens of South Korean civilians to Jeddah’s King Abdullah Air Base, and a boat ferried nearly 200 people from 14 countries across the Red Sea from Port Sudan.
Thirteen of the civilians who arrived on Wednesday were Saudi, while the rest came from countries across the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia and North and Central America, the Saudi foreign ministry statement said.