By IANS,
New Delhi : India has airlifted another group of 44 of its nationals and two Nepalese Sunday from Abidjan, the capital of Cote d’Ivoire, as tensions remained high in the West African nation even after the level of violence went down.
The external affairs ministry had chartered an aircraft to evacuate 46 persons, including one woman, two children and two Nepalese nationals.
“The group landed safely at Kotoko International Airport in Accra, the capital city of nearby Ghana, at 1630 hrs (local time),” a ministry statement said Monday.
This is the second group to be evacuated from Abidjan.
As many as 66 Indians, including 11 women and 12 children, were evacuated April 12 from Abidjan to Accra on a Boeing-737 aircraft chartered by the ministry.
Indian Ambassador Shamma Jain was evacuated from her residence following heavy fighting near the Indian mission in Abidjan April 8 morning.
The neighbourhood near the presidential palace has seen the heaviest fighting in the capital between the forces of President Laurent Gbagbo and that of president elect Alassane Ouattara.
Ouattara had won the presidential elections last year, but Gbagbo has refused to hand over power.
The United Nations, the African Union and other international organisations have been demanding that Gbagbo should leave office voluntarily, and even imposed sanctions against his regime.
Gbagbo was arrested by French forces last week from his bunker, and handed over to Ouattara.
However, there are still reports of sporadic gunfire in the capital, though the intense fighting seems to have died down.