Evacuation of Pakistanis from Yemen is priority: FO
All possibilities are being reviewed in order to ensure safe exit of Pakistanis, Tasnim Aslam said.
ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) - Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam on Saturday said that every possible effort is being made for safe evacuation of Pakistanis from Yemen.
In a message posted on Twitter, Tasnim Aslam said the airports of Yemen are closed while ground route is unsafe.
Priority: safe exit of our citizens from Yemen. Problem: main airports dysfunctional; land routes to operating airports and sea unsafe.
— SpokespersonMOFA (@ForeignOfficePk) March 28, 2015
The spokesperson said all possibilities are being reviewed in order to ensure safe exit of Pakistanis. For this purpose, Pakistan is also in contact with the neighboring countries of Yemen.
Options:citizens of many countries are stranded. We are in contact with them for possible joint movement of people in convoys under security
— SpokespersonMOFA (@ForeignOfficePk) March 28, 2015
The spokesperson said the Pakistani community in Yemen had been directed for evacuation two months back.
Earlier today, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif issued directives to the concerned authorities to take steps for immediate evacuation of Pakistani families stranded in Yemen.
In a statement, the Prime Minister said steps must be taken on war footings to ensure their safety and evacuation.
Saudi Arabia has begun air strikes in Yemen to defend the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi from advancing Huthi rebels.
Its ambassador in Washington said Thursday it had assembled a coalition of 10 countries, including Pakistan and five Gulf monarchies, formed to protect the Yemeni government.
But Pakistan, a longstanding ally of Riyadh, says it has not yet decided whether to join the operation, which has seen Yemeni capital Sanaa rocked by powerful explosions.
