The Foreign Office revealed that nearly all of the one thousand Pakistanis in conflict-stricken Sudan would be evacuated within 24 to 48 hours.
The Foreign Office shared in a brief statement that 93 more Pakistanis who were stranded in Sudan have arrived in Pakistan, making up the fourth group of evacuees. Reportedly, flight PK754 brought the latest group to Islamabad Airport on Monday.
The statement mentioned that 636 displaced Pakistanis had returned home on five special PAF flights via Jeddah, landing separately in Karachi. With the most recent evacuees, 729 Pakistanis have returned to the country.
The FO has been working to repatriate Pakistanis trapped in the war zone since the conflict began earlier this month. The Pakistani Air Force moves the Pakistanis in Sudan to Port Sudan, where they are transferred to Jeddah and then flown back home.
Pakistan expressed gratitude to Saudi Arabia earlier today in response to a statement by the Saudi foreign ministry.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs thanked Saudi Arabia on Twitter for supporting and assisting distressed Pakistanis during this challenging time.
The Saudi foreign ministry updated on the arrival of Pakistanis in Jeddah the day before. They reported the arrival of a Royal Saudi Air Force transport plane carrying 45 Saudi citizens and 36 Pakistanis and the ship H M S ‘Al-Diriyah’ carrying 52 nationals of friendly countries.
The conflict in Sudan began on April 15 between forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy-turned-rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, the commander of the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Over 500 people have been killed in the fighting so far.
Former strongman Omar al-Bashir deployed Janjaweed fighters in the Darfur region, where they were accused of war crimes, including genocide. In April 2019, the military ousted Bashir following massive public protests.
The two generals staged a coup in 2021 but later disagreed over the proposed integration of the RSF into the regular army.
