IAF evacuates 121 Indians from damaged Sudan airstrip using night vision in a 'daring operation'

In a daring operation, a C-130J heavy-lift aircraft of the Indian Air Force rescued 121 people from a small airstrip at Wadi Sayyidna which is about 40 km north of the violence-hit Sudanese capital city of Khartoum, officials said on Friday.

The rescue operation was carried out on the intervening night of April 27 and 28.

#SudanConflict | In a daring operation carried out on the night of 27/28 Apr 2023, a C-130J aircraft of the IAF rescued 121 personnel from a small airstrip at Wadi Sayyidna, which is about 40 km North of Khartoum. The passengers included medical cases, including a pregnant lady;… pic.twitter.com/gTQv0w8Pul

— ANI (@ANI) April 28, 2023

Those rescued in the operation included a pregnant woman and those who had no means to reach Port Sudan, the key transit point from where India is rescuing its citizens using military aircraft and naval ships, the IAF officials said.

The airstrip in question had a degraded surface with no navigational aid or fuel, and most critically no landing lights which are required to guide an aircraft landing at night, said one of the officials.

The officials said the aircrew used their electro-optical and infrared sensors to ensure that the runway was free of any obstruction and there were no inimical forces in the vicinity.  “Having made sure of the same, the aircrew carried out a tactical approach using night vision goggles on a practically dark night,” said the official.

“Upon landing, the aircraft engines were kept running while eight IAF Garud Commandos secured the passengers and their luggage into the aircraft. As with the landing, the take off from the unlit runway was also carried out using night vision goggles,” he said.

“This approximately two-and-a-half hour operation between Wadi Sayyidna and Jeddah will go down in the annals of IAF history for its sheer audacity and flawless execution — akin to that carried out in Kabul,” the IAF official said.

The Indian Air Force had carried out similar operations to evacuate Indians from Kabul after the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021.

India launched ‘Operation Kaveri’ earlier this week to bring back the stranded Indians from Sudan.

Sudan has been witnessing fighting between the country’s army and a paramilitary group that has reportedly left around 400 people dead.