ISLAMABAD: The first batch of Pakistanis evacuated from embattled Sudan returned to the homeland on Friday.

Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, while giving an update on the evacuation of Pakistani nationals in Sudan, said an aircraft carrying 149 Pakis­tani nationals evacuated from Sudan arrived in Karachi on Friday morning.

“Two other flights carrying around 200 Pakistanis are expected to arrive later today. One of them originated from Port Sudan and the other from Jeddah to bring back Pakis­tanis who had earlier been evacuated there,” she said.

Ms Baloch said the evacuation of Pakistanis from a difficult security situation in Sudan had been made possible by a robust inter-agency process led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

She said the evacuation plan has been implemented in phases: In the first phase of the operation, over 800 Pakistanis were transported from Khart­oum to Port Sudan, which was relatively safe. The second phase of the evacuation operation consisted of transporting Pakistani nationals from Port Sudan to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, or directly to Pakistan.

“Today’s flights, operating from Port Sudan via Jeddah, mark the first part of this second phase,” she said.

The spokesperson said that evacuation from Port Sudan to Jeddah continues including through ferries operated by the Saudi government. Some passengers will also be evacuated through a Chinese ship from Port Sudan to Jeddah.

“We remain engaged with friendly countries in the region and are especially grateful to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for facilitating this process by providing transport by ferry from Port Sudan to Jeddah and also hosting Pakistani nationals until their repatriation to Pakistan,” she said.

Ms Baloch said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to lead the inter-agency process. Ambassador Meer Bahrose Regi’s team in Khartoum and Port Sudan have worked tirelessly to facilitate this process and will continue to provide relief to Pakistanis who remain in Sudan until their evacuation to Pakistan. Our Consulate General of Jeddah will continue to coordinate with the Saudi authorities and assist Pakistanis in transit through Jeddah.

The spokesperson, who had earlier put the number of Pakistanis stranded in Sudan at around 1,500, avoided giving the exact number of Pakistani nationals trapped in Sudan.

“We have a large number of Pakistanis who are still in Sudan and some Pakistanis are in transit through Jeddah. They were evacuated earlier from Port Sudan to Jeddah. Since the outbreak of civil war in Sudan, we have evacuated about 847 Pakistanis from Khartoum to Port Sudan and of them some are already in Jeddah while the rest are in transit as we speak to Jeddah via ferries. So, the situation is fluid. We would be able to give you the exact numbers as we have more details about the movement of these ferries,” she said while answering a question