New Delhi: Photos from the Indian Air Force show how a C-130J aircraft of the Indian Air Force rescued 121 people from a small airstrip at Wadi Sayyidna, which is about 40 km north of Khartoum in strife torn Sudan.
The passengers included a pregnant woman along with people who the IAF says had no means to reach Port Sudan, from where most Indians are being taken to Jeddah city in Saudi Arabia.
As many as 1,360 Indians have returned to India on four flights from Jeddah. Fighting broke out in Sudan earlier in April, and as two rival generals are fighting for control, over 3,000 Indians have been caught in the violence.
This convoy was led by the Indian Defence Attaché. “The airstrip in question had a degraded surface, with no navigational approach aids or fuel, and most critically or landing lights (that are required to guide an aircraft landing at night),” the IAF has said, adding that the operation took place in the dark of the night, with the help of electro-optical and infra red sensors to ensure no obstruction on the runway.
Upon landing, the aircraft engines were reportedly kept running while eight IAF Garud Commandos secured the passengers and their luggage into the aircraft. The runway was unlit the whole time, the IAF says.
All photos below were released by the IAF.
