Balkhi: A group of Afghans trapped in Sudan evacuated

KABUL (Pajhwok): A group of stranded Afghan nationals in Sudan have been evacuated to Jeddah city of Saudi Arabia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) of Afghanistan said on Thursday.

Amir Khan Muttaqi, the acting minister of foreign affairs, on April 23 had said around 120 Afghan nationals remained stranded in Sudan and efforts to evacuate them had been started.

The government of Saudi Arabia on Wednesday said with efforts and coordination of Afghan ambassador Ahmad Jawed Mujaddidi, the stranded Afghan nationals were being evacuated to Saudi Arabia and then to Afghanistan.

MoFA spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi wrote on his twitter page: “Fortunately, due to continued efforts of the Islamic Emirate’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and cooperation of Saudi Arabia, the first group of Afghans has been evacuated from Sudan and has reached Jeddah city. They will be soon sent to Afghanistan.”

However, he did not reveal the number of the evacuated Afghan nationals.

The MoFA has assured that its efforts to safely evacuate the remaining Afghan nationals trapped in Sudan are ongoing and it will use all resources in this regard.

The conflict between the country’s army and a paramilitary force entered 13th day on Thursday and has so far killed and wounded thousands of people.

The warring sides agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire after US mediations to allow foreign embassies to evacuate their citizens from the country.

aw/ma

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