Islamabad : Around 200 Pakistanis stranded in Yemen’s Aden city will be evacuated on Wednesday by a Chinese naval ship to Djibouti, from where they will be brought back to Pakistan, the foreign office in Islamabad said.
“Due to the ongoing fighting around Aden, evacuation by air through the Mokallah airport, which is at a considerable distance, has become extremely risky. Therefore, around 200 Pakistanis stranded in Aden will now be evacuated through a Chinese Naval Ship reaching Aden on Wednesday,” a foreign office spokesperson said in a statement.
“These Pakistanis will be taken to Djibouti by sea. From there, a special Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight will bring them back to Pakistan,” Geo News quoted the statement as saying.
A PIA spokesperson said the return flight would depart from Djibouti and arrive at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport on Thursday.
The foreign office said special arrangements are being made in Djibouti for the Pakistani citizens.
“Our ambassador in Ethiopia has been instructed to personally set up a camp office in Djibouti to receive these Pakistanis, and organise their immigration, stay and journey back to Pakistan. The Djibouti government has agreed to provide the required support,” it added.
Meanwhile, the security situation was “fairly stable” in the city of Mokallah, where around 150 Pakistanis were waiting to be evacuated.
“A Pakistan navy ship is scheduled to reach Mokallah on April 2 to evacuate around 150 Pakistanis. These will be brought back directly to Karachi,” the statement added.
The spokesperson said that, despite the challenging situation in Sanaa, the government was planning to arrange a special flight to the city to rescue between 70 and 90 Pakistanis who had missed the first evacuation flight via Al Hudeida airport.
“Saudi authorities have been requested for an exemption of ‘No Fly’ restriction imposed. Ground clearances from the local authorities are also being obtained. A PIA aircraft is already on stand-by for this operation,” the spokesperson said.
Sanaa airport has suffered partial damage during recent bombings, therefore, all logistic and technical aspects were being carefully examined for a safe operation, the spokesperson added.