A C-17 aircraft of the Indian Air Force on Thursday delivered around 55 tonnes of relief material for Rohingya Muslim refugees in Bangladesh, officials said.
IAF officials said one more C-17, a large strategic heavy-lift cargo aircraft, was scheduled to airlift additional relief material to Bangladesh on Friday.
The C-17 Globemaster was positioned at short notice at Delhi on Wednesday and loaded overnight with daily necessities like rice, pulses, sugar, salt, cooking oil, ready-to-eat meals, mosquito nets, and other material to ferry to Chittagong.
The aircraft departed early Thursday morning from Delhi and delivered the consignment at Chittagong around 12.45 p.m. to help Bangladesh deal with an influx of lakhs of Rohingyas who have taken refuge there.
The relief material will be delivered in multiple consignments under 'Operation Insaniyat' of the Indian government.
--IANS
ao/tsb/dg