AFP/Islamabad
Pakistan yesterday said it was preparing to evacuate its citizens and diplomatic staff stranded in Yemen, with two planes on standby.
On Friday, the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ordered evacuation of Pakistanis from Yemen, citing deteriorating law and order situation in the strife-torn country.
“Keeping in view the deteriorating situation in Yemen the prime minister has given instructions for immediate evacuation of the Pakistani families stranded there,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement after television channels broadcast interviews of some families from Sanaa.
“Pursuant to the directive of the prime minister, the government of Pakistan is making all necessary arrangements for immediate evacuation of Pakistani community members and embassy personnel from Yemen,” said a statement from the foreign office.
There are around 3,000 Pakistanis in Yemen and the foreign office said stranded citizens were being taken to safer cities from where special PIA flights will be arranged to bring them home. The destruction of Sanaa airport in Saudi air strikes would complicate the evacuation operation.
A convoy of 12 buses would transport 500 people to the western port city of Hudaidah on Saturday, it said, with two PIA planes on standby.
“We are also in contact with all neighbouring countries of Yemen for evacuation of Pakistanis there without visa by any safe means,” it said in a tweet.
In an earlier tweet, the foreign office said it was facing problems evacuating stranded citizens, with the main airports dysfunctional while routes to operating airports and the sea were unsafe.
Pakistani television channels aired live Skype and telephone interviews with citizens stranded in Yemen who complained that they were being threatened by rebels.
In TV interviews, many stranded families expressed fears for their security because of the air strikes launched by a Saudi-led anti-Houthi alliance.
A number of civilians are reported to have died in the strikes across Yemen.
The PMO statement, however, attributed the decision for evacuation to an increase in crimes.
“People living in Yemen are vulnerable to all sorts of crimes, including kidnapping, as the state system is collapsing,” it said, adding that the prime minister had said that steps should be taken on a war footing for ensuring their safety and evacuation.
The embassy in Sanaa has asked the Pakistanis in Yemen to restrict their movement and remain vigilant.
On Friday, Pakistan’s defence minister said it was ready to defend Yemen’s “territorial integrity” but had not yet decided to join the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Shia Huthi rebels.
Saudi Arabia launched air strikes on Thursday to defend the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi from the advancing insurgents.
Pakistan is a longstanding ally of Saudi Arabia with close military ties, but Islamabad has not yet committed to the operation, which has drawn strong criticism from its neighbour Iran, the major Shia power.
Indians, meanwhile, are planning to evacuate their nationals through Hudaidah port, using their naval ships which are already in the Gulf of Aden.
Pakistani protesters chant slogans in support of Saudi Arabia at a rally in Karachi late on Friday. Pakistan is ready to defend Saudi Arabia’s u201cterrit
