Saudi Gazette report
JEDDAH — Pictures of a Saudi woman soldier cradling an infant boy who fell asleep in her arms during his evacuation from war-torn Sudan became an instant hit on social media.
One of the pictures, showing the baby boy wearing a white and yellow t-shirt and shorts cling to the woman soldier, has garnered thousands of shares and likes on Twitter within moments of its posting.
The woman soldier has won accolades from many social media users who said the picture represented the sublime values of humanity and compassion. One user commented on Twitter: “How could this Saudi soldier embrace this child with such tenderness and compassion as if she was his mother?"
The picture showing the woman soldier from the Ministry of Defense cradling the boy was captured while she disembarked from a ship at Jeddah Islamic Port, which carried nearly 200 Saudis and other nationals who were evacuated from the war-torn Sudan on Monday.
The Saudi Navy ship HMS Yanbu carried 199 people, including nationals of more than a dozen countries, who were evacuated from Sudan as part of the ongoing evacuation drive following the conflict that broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on April 15.
The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Monday that Saudi Arabia had evacuated 356 people belonging to 26 nationalities from Sudan since the beginning of the conflict. It also stated that 10 Saudi citizens and 189 Arab and foreign nationals were evacuated on board the Saudi ship that docked in Jeddah on Monday.
Saudi Arabia on Wednesday evacuated a total of 1687 people from Sudan, who included Saudi citizens and nationals of 58 other countries.
The number of nationals evacuated by Saudi Arabia from Sudan during the past few days has reached 356, including 101 Saudis and 255 other nationals.
Wednesday's operation brings the total number of people evacuated from Sudan by the Kingdom to 2148. They included 114 Saudis and 2034 others belonging to 62 nationalities, the Foreign Ministry said.
