The Indian Navy informed, on Friday, that INS Tarkash evacuated 326 Indian nationals from Port Sudan and are now en route to Jeddah. Several passengers, who arrived on Thursday in Mumbai from the African nation under 'Operation Kaveri' mission, recited their harrowing experiences of the last seven days. People stated that despite the limited staff the Indian embassy was working round-the-clock to evacuate people stranded in the war-torn country. According to a 39-year-old businessman, Abdul Kadir, the situation in Khartoum worsened, however, India's ambassador B S Mubarak and his team of eight officials worked tirelessly.
"With limited staff, they did unlimited work," Kadir told PTI, adding that the Indian embassy was operating 24x7 during this period. Mubarak himself was stuck in the worst-affected part of the city, but he was continuously in touch with the staff and volunteers, he said.
WhatsApp groups were created of Indian nationals in each locality to make sure everyone got help.
Meanwhile, Defence attache Gurpreet Singh took the risk and brought Mubarak to a safe area.
Kadir, who has been living in Sudan since 2017, said they were used to the tense situation in the country, but this time things took a bad turn unexpectedly, though they were hoping that tensions would decrease in the holy month of Ramadan.
"Within one hour, the situation went out of control," he said, adding that they did not get a chance even to buy food and groceries.
"We got the benefit of being Indians. We were allowed to pass peacefully through numerous checkpoints," Kadir said, adding that the Indian community at Port Sudan not only opened their homes but also their hearts for the rescued compatriots.
The Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) agreed to extend their ceasefire amid ongoing violence in the capital Khartoum and the western Darfur region for the evacuation to run as smoothly as possible.
India on Monday launched 'Operation Kaveri' to evacuate its citizens stranded in Sudan.
Committed to ensure that no Indian national is left behind in Sudan, India has deployed its military planes and warships in the war-torn country.
Sudan is experiencing bloodshed as a result of clashes between the army and paramilitary forces. Even though there is a 72-hour ceasefire, there have been allegations of violence.
Fighting has erupted between soldiers loyal to Sudanese army leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy, paramilitary Rapid Support Soldiers (RSF) commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.