200 Pakistanis in Aden to be evacuated to Djibouti today

ISLAMABAD: Around 200 Pakistanis stranded in the Yemeni city Aden will be evacuated through a Chinese naval ship to Djibouti on Wednesday, from where they will be brought back to Pakistan, the Foreign Office 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 tomorrow (April 1, 2015),” said a press statement from the Foreign Office spokesperson on Tuesday.

“These Pakistanis will be taken to Djibouti by sea. From there, a special PIA flight will bring them back to Pakistan,” said the statement.

A spokesperson for the PIA said that relief flight PK-7003, previously expected to leave Karachi around noon today, would depart from Karachi at 04.30 pm today, pending security clearance.

He said that the return flight would depart from Djibouti around 1200 local time and arrive at the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi at around 230am of Thursday.

The foreign office said that 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 organize their immigration, stay and journey back to Pakistan. 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 PNS ship is scheduled to reach Mokallah on 2nd April to evacuate around 150 Pakistanis. These will be brought back directly to Karachi,” said the statement.

The spokesperson said that, despite the challenging situation in Sana’a, the government was planning to arrange a special flight to the city to rescue between 70 to 90 Pakistani 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,” said the spokesperson.

Sana’a airport had suffered partial damage during recent bombings, therefore, all logistic and technical aspects are being carefully examined for a safe operation, she said.