Islamabad : Pakistan has evacuated hundreds of its nationals stranded in Libya in view of the deteriorating security situation there, officials said Thursday.
Thousands of Pakistani nationals had been stuck in Libya and their evacuation has been started on the instructions of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Pakistan International Airlines has started special flights to Libya to bring back the stranded Pakistanis and the first Boeing 747 relief flight, carrying 500 Pakistanis, arrived Thursday at Lahore airport, Xinhua reported citing an official statement.
A PIA spokesperson said that more flights to Libya will be operated.
The foreign ministry said the Pakistan embassy in Tripoli is assisting stranded Pakistanis to evacuate and in the last few days has already facilitated evacuation of over 2,500 Pakistanis to Tunisia.
The foreign ministry spokesperson said a Crisis Management Cell (CMC) has been established at the ministry to monitor the evolving security situation in Libya and to coordinate efforts for evacuation of the Pakistani diaspora.
The embassy, from its interaction with the community, has indications that the number of Pakistanis who may have to be evacuated is between 3,000-6,000.
Since no Libyan airport is operating at the moment, the Pakistan embassy in Tunisia is making arrangements for Pakistanis to get Tunisian visa on arrival at the border from where they will be able to take flights to Pakistan.
The Pakistan embassy in Tripoli has already registered a large number of Pakistanis and referred their documents to Tunisian authorities for visa on arrival.
The foreign ministry and the embassy in Tripoli has advised all Pakistanis in Libya to contact the embassy and inform its personnel about their location and get registered, if not already done so.