Islamabad: Except for a few families, who volunteered to stay back, rescue teams have evacuated 1,019 stranded Pakistanis from Yemen, in the last 10 days.

According to Foreign Office spokesperson, an estimated 150 Pakistanis were still left in the conflict-ravaged country. Special flights and Navy ships were engaged to safely bring back the stranded nationals. An excellent coordination among all departments and embassies, in different countries made all this possible

Around 3,000 Pakistanis were residing in Yemen before the current crisis, however, in response to various advisories sent by the mission, in the wake of evolving security situation, the community members started leaving Yemen gradually and only around 1,200 Pakistanis remained in the country, when air strikes by GCC coalition commenced on March 26, the spokesperson said.

Over 900 of these registered with the embassy for immediate evacuation. They were mostly located in Sana’a, Al Hudeida, Aden and Mokallah.

A special exemption from Saudi government was obtained for the “no fly” restriction imposed on Yemeni airspace, along with the ground clearances from local authorities. In a daring operation on March 29, over 500 Pakistanis were airlifted through a special PIA flight.

Since most airports in Yemen had become dysfunctional with heavy fighting going on, two Pakistan Navy vessels were dispatched to the region for evacuating the stranded Pakistanis in Aden and Mokallah, the spokesperson said.

When the ship approached Mokallah, the city witnessed a sudden spate of violence in the wake of an attempted jailbreak by the local chapter of “Al Qaeda”. An alternative plan was immediately devised, whereby the ship was sent to a nearby small port of “Ash Shihir” and the stranded Pakistanis embarked the ship by a ferry.

Around 30 foreign nationals, including eight Chinese, 11 Indians and some Europeans were also evacuated following requests by their respective countries. An implementation of a historic emergency evacuation plan has ensured a safe return of all stranded citizens in Yemen.