The flight dispatched to Al-Hudaydah to facilitate the evacuation of Pakistanis stranded in the Middle Eastern conflict zone has landed at Karachi airport, with around 500 Pakistani nationals on board.
A Boeing-747 jumbo jet of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) was sent to Al-Hudaydah airport after being given clearance by Saudi aviation authorities. The flight was expected to evacuate 504 stranded Pakistanis.
A convoy of 600 Pakistanis had reached Al-Hudaydah Sunday after escaping from the embattled Yemeni capital Sanaa to leave for Pakistan. The convoy was inspected heavily by the Yemeni armed forces and the Houthi militia before it was permitted to exit Sanaa.
Pakistan’s ambassador to Yemen Dr Irfan Shami had said earlier that 482 Pakistanis will be evacuated on the first flight. He maintained that around 1,000 Pakistanis will be evacuated and sent to Pakistan in a span of two days. Women and children will be transported first, the ambassador said.
“On seeing the plane landing, stranded Pakistanis expressed their happiness by clapping,” he said.
The PIA plane from Yemen was also expected to transport more than 300 passengers to Islamabad at around 3am today.
In this connection, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Sunday directed Minister for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage Senator Pervaiz Rashid and Member National Assembly Tariq Fazal Chaudhry to receive the evacuated Pakistanis from Yemen at the Islamabad airport tonight on his behalf.
Late Saturday, Pakistani Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry said that around 3,000 Pakistanis lived in Yemen, with some 1,000 trying to leave the country.
The convoy of Pakistanis, which includes women and children was to stay in a school in Al-Hudaydah until their departure for Pakistan.
According to the spokesman of the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the flight operations will be continued until all Pakistanis are evacuated from Yemen.
The crew was given brief training on tackling conflict zones before their departure.
A frigate belonging to Pakistan Navy left for the Gulf of Aden on the coast of Yemen Sunday from a seaport in Karachi to rescue the stranded Pakistanis from the war-torn country.
The fully-equipped ship will provide its services to aid the evacuation process.
According to spokesman CAA, another PIA airplane, an Airbus-310, will also be used in the evacuation operation.
Former ambassador to the US, Sherry Rehman, however, was critical of the government’s handling of the evacuation of Pakistanis in Yemen.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday had ordered the Pakistani mission in Yemen to take steps for the immediate evacuation of stranded Pakistani families in the troubled country.
Upon directions of the prime minister, a comprehensive plan was devised for the evacuation of the stranded Pakistanis.
The prime minister was personally monitoring the evacuation and had directed the officials to ensure safe return of every citizen, his spokesperson added.
A Crisis Management Cell has been established at the Foreign Office to coordinate the arrangements for evacuation.
Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies launched military operations including air strikes in Yemen on Thursday, Saudi officials said, to counter Iran-backed Houthi forces besieging the southern city of Aden, where the US-supported Yemeni president had taken refuge.
Houthi advance raised Saudi fears the Shia minority fighters would seize control of the whole of its Sunni-majority neighbour and take it into the orbit of regional rival Iran.
Yemen has been gripped by growing turmoil since the Houthis launched a power takeover in Sanaa in February.