ISLAMABAD: The foreign ministry said on Tuesday an operation to pull out Pakistani nationals from Sudan had ended after over 1,000 people were evacuated from the northeast African country.
Countries, including Pakistan, have conducted one of the biggest international evacuations in years as their nationals flee the sudden outbreak of fighting in Sudan. Some foreigners have been airlifted out while others have traveled about 800 km (500 miles) by road from the war-torn capital Khartoum to Port Sudan on the Red Sea to board ships.
The fighting that erupted on April 15 between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has brought air strikes and artillery battles to Khartoum and its adjoining cities of Omdurman and Bahri, emptying the streets of civilian life. The UN estimated on Monday that 800,000 people might flee the country due to the conflict.
“We have successfully & safely evacuated over 1000 Pakistanis out of Sudan. With this our evacuation operations out of Sudan have ended,” the ministry of foreign affairs said on Twitter.
“The evacuations through Jeddah will continue until last Pakistani returns safely.”
Pakistan’s foreign office said on Friday the country’s stranded nationals were evacuated in different phases, the first of which included transporting over 800 Pakistanis from Sudan’s capital Khartoum to Port Sudan city.
The second phase of the process involved transporting Pakistani nationals from Port Sudan to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia or directly to Pakistan.
