The total number of Indian evacuees from war-ravaged Yemen crossed 4000 after nearly 700 nationals, including 600 from Sanaa, were rescued in three air sorties on Wednesday. The government has decided to end the air evacuation operation.
On Tuesday night, MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin shared the information on microblogging site Twitter. He tweeted, "We will end air evacuation efforts from Sana'a tomorrow, 8th April."
Akbaruddhi also added that Indians who want to avail the evacuation facilities should leave today and spread the word about this development.
In a series of tweets, Syed Akbaruddin added that India had accepted Pakistan's offer to fly back from Karachi by a special plane those 11 Indians evacuated by Pakistani naval ship from Yemen.
While the air evacuation ends today, the government may continue the evacuation by sea for some more time.
Meanwhile, 232 persons from 26 countries were evacuated by India. Countries that have sought India's assistance in evacuating its nationals from the war-ravaged country, include, USA, France, Germany, Sweden, Singapore, Malaysia, Ireland, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Iraq among others.
Evacuated foreign nationals thanked India for their rescue efforts.
Speaking to ANI, an evacuated Bangladeshi national said, "The Indian government has saved our life," adding that the India's rescue mission will not be forgotten by them.
Appreciating India's rescue efforts, an Ireland national said, "We cannot thank the Indian government enough for getting us out of Yemen."
A British national evacuated by Air India too expressed appreciation for the effort.
Germany's Ambassador in New Delhi Michael Steiner expressed his thanks to India after the country's security forces helped rescue stranded German nationals.
Taking to Twitter, Steiner especially thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for the same.
A day ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also hailed the "seamless" operation by various government departments to evacuate Indians as also several non-Indians from strife-torn Yemen.
Yemen has been witnessing fierce battle between Saudi Arabia-led coalition and Shiite Houthi rebels, who have battled their way into various cities in Yemen including in the former stronghold of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi. Hadi has fled overseas.
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