Yemen evacuations extended by a day

New Delhi : Responding to the request of 140 nurses, India has extended its time to complete the Yemen evacuation operation by one day as the naval warships as well as Air India and Indian Air Force planes continue to extricate people from the war zones.

“Responding to needs of 140 nurses, India extends air evacuation from Yemen by a day. Flights planned for Thursday also, subject to clearances,” Syed Akbarudin, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, tweeted. MEA officials claimed, the number of people evacuated from Yemen has crossed the 4,000 mark.

Three naval ships – INS Sumitra, INS Mumbai and INS Tarkash – along with three IAF C-17 Globemaster heavy lift transport aircraft and two Air India planes are working overtime to ensure success in Operation Rahaat.

The three IAF C-17 flew for more than 150 hours shuttling between Djibouti on the African coast and the Indian shore.

The small African town has become a transit point for the stranded Indians. Naval ships picked them up from the port cities of Aden, Al Hodeidah and Al Mukallah and release them at Djibouti.

The same pattern is followed by two Air India



planes, which rescued people from Saana and bring them to Djibouti where the ministry of external affairs has set up a camp office with minister of state for external affair Gen V K Singh (rtd) in charge.

The evacuees are provided with food and medical assistance on-board. A baby was born on-board INS Mumbai in one of its journeys between Al Hodeidah and Djibouti. Along with Indian citizens, New Delhi also rescued 232 foreign nationals from 26 countries, USA and Yemen included, till April 7 and received wide appreciation from international community.

“The help India extended included help to our neighbours Bangladesh, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Service to humanity knows no borders. Glad we helped many countries in evacuation from Yemen,” tweeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

India, however, was not alone in extending the humanitarian assistance to others. Many nations too had done the same. Pakistan, for instance, rescued 11 Indians and brought them to Delhi in a special Pakistan Air Force flight, which was received by Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit in Delhi. “Thank you PM Nawaz Sharif for your humanitarian gesture,” tweeted Modi.