Pakistan has ended its evacuation mission from Sudan after pulling out over 1,000 of its nations from the northeast African country, the foreign ministry said.
On Tuesday, a total of 636 Pakistani nationals stranded in Sudan have been repatriated back to their homeland after the latest batch of 93 citizens arrived in Islamabad on Monday via a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight, which was part of the ongoing evacuation missions to bring back stranded nationals from the conflict-ridden African country, told the foreign office.
The transport fleet of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and PIA have been operating flights since Friday to bring back citizens, with the first batch of 149 citizens landing in Karachi, followed by another flight carrying 140 citizens. The remaining 254 citizens were transported from Port Sudan to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, and then to Pakistan.
The repatriation process was initiated by Pakistan and several other countries after fierce fighting broke out in Sudan between rival military factions, resulting in the loss of hundreds of lives.
The foreign office stated that the remaining nearly 1,000 stranded Pakistanis will be evacuated from Sudan “in the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours.” Engineer Amir Muqam, the adviser to the prime minister, was also present at the airport and reiterated the government’s commitment to bring back all stranded Pakistanis.
The government of Pakistan thanked Saudi Arabia for transporting stranded nationals from Port Sudan to Jeddah and for hosting them until their repatriation.
Pakistan’s foreign office said the evacuation of stranded nationals was carried out in different phases, with the first phase involving the transportation of over 800 Pakistanis from Sudan’s capital Khartoum to Port Sudan city, which is “relatively safe.” The second phase involves transporting Pakistani nationals from Port Sudan to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia or directly to Pakistan.
The repatriation of stranded citizens is a significant achievement for Pakistan and the government has been praised for its swift action in evacuating its citizens from Sudan, demonstrating its commitment to the safety and well-being of its people.
