New Delhi: India  launched ‘Operation Kaveri’ to rescue its citizens stranded in Sudan amidst violent conflict between the country’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Foreign Minister S Jaishankar announced on Twitter.

Here’s your 5-point cheat sheet in this big story:

1. About 500 Indians have reached Port Sudan for evacuation, and more are on their way, Mr Jaishankar said.
2. “Two Indian Air Force C-130J are currently positioned on standby in Jeddah. And, INS Sumedha has reached Port Sudan,” the government earlier said in a statement.
3. India has already positioned two heavy-lift military transport aircraft in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah and a naval ship at a key port in Sudan as part of its contingency plans to evacuate stranded Indians.
4. The government had on Friday said it was focusing on the safety of over 3,000 Indian citizens presently located throughout Sudan.
5. Violence broke out in the capital Khartoum and across other regions in Sudan on April 15 between forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy-turned-rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The former allies seized power in a 2021 coup but later fell out in a bitter power struggle.

The army and the paramilitary RSF, which are waging a deadly power struggle across the country, had both issued statements saying they would uphold a three-day ceasefire from Friday for Islam’s Eid al-Fitr holiday.

Sudan’s sudden collapse into warfare has dashed plans to restore civilian rule, brought an already impoverished country to the brink of humanitarian catastrophe and threatened a wider conflict that could draw in outside powers.

There has been no sign yet that either side can secure a quick victory or is ready to back down and talk. The army has air power but the RSF is widely embedded in urban areas including around key facilities in central Khartoum.

Burhan and Hemedti had held the top two positions on a ruling council overseeing a political transition after a 2021 coup that was meant to include a move to civilian rule and the RSF’s merger into the army.

The World Health Organization reported on Friday that 413 people had been killed and 3,551 injured since fighting broke out. The death count includes at least five aid workers in a country reliant on food aid.

International efforts to quell the violence have focused on the ceasefire, with U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken calling on them to honour the truce.

The U.S. and some other countries have readied efforts to evacuate their citizens. The army said the United States, Britain, France and China would evacuate diplomats and other nationals from Khartoum “in the coming hours”.

Saudi Arabia’s embassy had already been evacuated out by land to Port Sudan and flown out from there and Jordan’s would follow in a similar manner, the army added.

RSF chief Hemedti said on Facebook early on Saturday that he had received a phone call from U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres in which they “emphasised the necessity of adhering to a complete ceasefire and providing protection for humanitarian and medical workers”.

The RSF said it was ready to partially open all airports to allow evacuations. However, Khartoum’s international airport has been caught in fighting and the status of other airports or RSF’s control over them is unclear.