Yemen crisis: 300 more Indians to be evacuated

New Delhi: After the rescue of more than 350 Indians from Aden, another batch of over 300 will be evacuated from al-Hudaydah through sea route even as the government was making all efforts to get clearance for air sorties to bring back its nationals from Sana’a.

INS Sumitra, which had evacuated 350 Indians from Aden on Tuesday, was dispatched to al- Hudaydah to pull out over 300 Indians from there.

According to officials, while the sea route has been opened for the evacuation operation Raahat, the government was making efforts to have the air route opened as well to rescue its nationals from Sana’a. There are over 2,000 Indians in Sanaa.

“Another 300 plus on the cards. Evacuation of 300 plus Indian nationals from al-Hudaydah, Yemen by INS Sumitra being planned for today,” the spokesperson in the external affairs ministry said.  He further tweeted that “Diplomatic options being pursued to ensure safe return of all Indians from Yemen.”

Minister of state in external affairs Gen. (retd.) V.K.Singh, who is in Djibouti to oversee the evacuation operations, met foreign minister Mohamoud Ali Youssouf of Djibouti and thanked him for the help extended to India in the evacuation of its nationals.

Meanwhile, 358 evacuees, who were rescued from Aden by INS Sumitra and were taken to Djibouti, returned to India by two Indian Air Force C-17 Globemasters.

While one flight carrying 190 nationals landed in Mumbai, another one with 168 Indians landed in Kochi in early hours on Thursday.

According to rebels, Yemen has been witnessing a fierce battle between the Saudi-led coalition and Shiite rebels, who have battled their way into the heart of Yemen’s main southern city Aden where fighting raged in the former stronghold of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, who has fled overseas.