More than 150 people, including foreign diplomats and officials, have been rescued from Sudan and have arrived in Jeddah, Saudi foreign ministry said, according to media reports.
The first announced evacuation of civilians was carried out by the Saudi Arabia's naval forces with the support of other branches of the army, the foreign ministry said.
It announced "safe arrival" of 91 Saudi citizens and around 66 nationals from 12 other countries including India. Citizens from Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Tunisia, Pakistan, Bulgaria, Bangladesh, the Philipines, Canada and Burkina Faso have also been evacuated.
The foreigners included "diplomats and (government) officials", the ministry said. Saudi Arabia "worked to provide all the necessary needs of foreign nationals" ahead of their departure to their respective countries, it added.
The operation was carried out by the royal Saudi navel forces in coordination with members of other branches of the Saudi military. India had been in contact with Saudi Arabia with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar who called up his Saudi counterpart to ensure evacuation of Indian nationals.
According to available information there are around 3000 Indian citizens out of which a bulk of the Indians are located in capital Khartoum but many are also located in other parts of the country including the conflict-prone Darfur in West Sudan. With this Saudi Arabia became the first country to citizens from conflict-torn Sudan which witnessed intense fighting between the paramilitary RSF and the Sudanese armed forces over the last 7 days.