Official: 148 Somalis evacuated from Sudan via Ethiopia

SCORES of Somalis fleeing violence in Sudan arrived in their Horn of Africa nation on Sunday, an official said. Some 148 Somali nationals, mostly students, arrived by plane in the capital Mogadishu, said Abdurahman Nur Mohamed Diinaari, a top official with the Somali foreign ministry.

“Through the assistance of the International Organization for Migration, Somalia’s foreign ministry has finally been able to relocate 148 Somalis from Sudan to Somalia today,” he said.

The Somalis had traveled by land from Sudan to Ethiopia and then onward by air to Somalia. Forty-five of those who arrived Sunday were later transported to Garowe, the administrative capital of the Somali state of Puntland, Diinaari said.

Somalia itself has been plagued by violence for years. The Islamic extremist group al-Shabab, which opposes the federal government, frequently launches deadly attacks in Mogadishu and other parts of the country.

One of the Somalis evacuated on Sunday said