Operation Kaveri: The runway was destroyed, there was no light… then IAF pilots rescued 121 such Indians

Operation Kaveri: Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots have shown presence of mind and courage in rescuing a group of Indians stranded in Sudan. Actually, when IAF’s C-130J aircraft arrived to rescue the stranded Indians in Wadi Sayyidna, the runway there was destroyed, there was no light, but still 121 Indians were evacuated from there within two and a half hours. Please tell that Wadi Sayyidna is about 40 km north of Khartoum, the capital of Sudan.

Indian Air Force lands its C-130J Hercules transport aircraft at Wadi Sayyidna airstrip. During this, the pilots of the aircraft landed using Night Vision Goggles (NVG). The aircrew used its electro-optical/infra-red sensors to ensure that the runway was safe to land on. There were no hostile forces in the vicinity.

#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

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Enthused by the success and complexity of the operation, the Air Force said that the operation between Wadi Sayedna and Jeddah would be remembered as one of the most daring and error-free operations in the history of the Indian Air Force. Let us inform that on Friday, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan told that under ‘Operation Kaveri’, 2,100 Indians have reached Jeddah so far.

News agency ANI quoted defense sources as saying that Group Captain Ravi Nanda is the captain of the C-130J special ops aircraft of the Indian Air Force, which took off from a small airstrip in Wadi Sayedna near Khartoum in Sudan during the ongoing conflict there. Launched a daring operation to save the Indian citizens.

Group Captain Ravi Nanda is the captain of the Indian Air Force C-130J Special Ops aircraft which carried out the daring operation to rescue 121 Indian nationals from a small airstrip in Wadi Sayidna near Khartoum, Sudan during the ongoing conflict there. Nanda was awarded a… pic.twitter.com/SJaRDMLZyN

— ANI (@ANI) April 29, 2023

Nanda was awarded a gallantry medal for rescuing Indians from Afghanistan in August 2021 under Operation Devi Shakti. IAF aircraft fly with a team of Garuda Special Forces on all such missions.