ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The prime minister’s advisor on national security and foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz has said that withdrawal of Pakistanis from Yemen will begin
in next 24 hours.
Talking to media representatives in Islamabad on Saturday, Sartaj Aziz said that all possible efforts are being made in order to ensure safe exit of Pakistanis from Yemen.
The advisor said that about 3,000 Pakistanis are currently in Yemen.
Efforts being made for safe exit of Pakistanis from Yemen: FO
Meanwhile, the Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said that every possible effort is being made for safe evacuation of Pakistanis from Yemen.
In her twitter messages, the spokesperson said that the airports of Yemen are closed while ground route is unsafe. However, all possibilities are being reviewed in order to ensure safe exit of Pakistanis.
The spokesperson said that for this purpose, Pakistan is also in contact with the neighboring countries of Yemen.
Tasnim Aslam said that the Pakistani community in Yemen had been directed for evacuation two months back. She said that citizens of many other countries are also stranded in Yemen.
“We are in contact with them for possible joint movement of people in convoys under security,” she said.
The foreign office spokesperson said that two Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) planes are on stand-by.
The spokesperson further said that today ambulance plans to move 500 people in convoy of 12 buses to Hudaidah where the airport is functional.
Nawaz orders evacuation of Pakistanis stranded in Yemen
On Friday, keeping in view the deteriorating law and order environment in Yemen, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ordered the Pakistani mission in the war-torn country to take steps for the immediate evacuation of stranded Pakistani families from there, according to a statement from the PM House in Islamabad.
The prime minister said that people living in Yemen are vulnerable to all sorts of crimes including kidnapping as the state system there has collapsed.
On Thursday, Saudi Arabia joined by some other Gulf Countries launched airstrikes against Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen while according to the Saudi Ambassador to the united states Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir, the airstrikes were aimed at protecting the people and the legitimate government of Yemen.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is contributing as many as 150,000 troops and 100 warplanes to the operations and that allies Egypt, Jordan, Sudan and Pakistan are ready to take part in a ground offensive in Yemen, according to Gulf broadcaster al-Arabiya TV.
