Daily Times

A fourth batch of 93 Pakistani nationals were evacuated from Khartoum’s Port Sudan and reached Islamabad on Monday as fighting rages in the African nation following an attempted coup by militia forces.

Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Sajjid Hussain Turi and Adviser to the Prime Minister, Amir Muqam, received the nationals at the airport.

Talking to the media on the occasion, Turi said that out of 1,200 Pakistanis living in Sudan, about 500 have returned to Pakistan safely.

In his remarks, Muqam said that the government will continue its efforts till the return of all Pakistanis from the war-torn country. He added that Saudi Arabia has extended full help in the evacuation process.

The adviser to the premier furthered that the government is bearing all the expenses of the evacuation of Pakistanis from Sudan to their homes in Pakistan.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Office in a statement stated that 636 stranded Pakistanis have returned home via Jeddah on five special flights to date.

The FO added that all of the nearly one thousand Pakistanis will be evacuated from Sudan in the next 24 to 48 hours. On April 29, 97 Pakistani nationals from Port Sudan arrived in Karachi on Saturday from Jeddah via a C-130 aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF).

Meanwhile, the Sudan conflict showed no sign of easing as fighting could be heard in Khartoum early on Monday despite a supposed ceasefire extension and the United Nations warned of a humanitarian “breaking point” as clashes between rival military forces entered a third week. Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands wounded since long-simmering tension between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted into conflict on April 15. At least 528 people have been killed and 4,599 wounded, the health ministry said. The United Nations has reported a similar number of dead but believes the real toll is much higher.