Evacuation of Pakistani citizens from Yemen | |
---|---|
Part of Yemeni Civil War (2014–present) | |
Type | Civil military operations |
Location | |
Planned by | Government of Pakistan Pakistan Navy |
Objective | Humanitarian relief |
Date | 26 March 2015 - 29 March 2015 |
Executed by | Pakistan International Airlines |
Outcome | Around 503 Pakistani citizens evacuated from Yemen |
The evacuation of Pakistani citizens was a civil-military combined effort by Pakistan to extract and evacuate overseas Pakistanis from war-torn areas of Yemen. [1]
According to Ministry of Human Resource Development of Pakistan, there were ~3,000 overseas Pakistanis residing in Yemen prior to the Saudi Arabian-led military intervention in Yemen. [2] In response to the Yemeni crises, the Pakistan government authorized the Pakistan International Airlines to launch of the special flights for aerial evacuation while the Pakistan Navy evacuated the remaining stranded Pakistanis with two frigates. [3]
Besides the evacuation of overseas Pakistanis, citizens of China and the United Kingdom among other countries were also evacuated by Pakistan. [4] Approximately, ~1,800 Pakistan's citizens were extracted from Yemen and safely returned to Pakistan, before the conflict escalated. [5] [6]
On 26 March 2015, the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the United States, Adel al-Jubeir, announced the Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council launched a military operation against Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen. [7] This was preceded by weeks of turmoil during which the Houthi guerrillas toppled the government of President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and took over the large parts of the country. [7]
The Foreign Office had earlier instructed the Pakistani community to leave Yemen as the situation on ground could worsen. However, 3000 Pakistani citizens had not heeded the warnings and were trapped in Yemen. [2] The overseas Pakistanis began reaching out the country's news media, notably Geo News , ARY News , and Express News, appealing the government for a safe evacuation on 27 March. [8] The Pakistan Embassy in Yemen worked towards moving the Pakistani community from Aden to Sana'a; around 150 to 200 Pakistani citizens were still reportedly trapped in Aden. [9] The Pakistan Navy deployed the PNS Aslat missile frigate as well as special aerial missions by PIA were flown in Yemen. On March 29, 2015, the PIA flights evacuated ~503 Pakistani citizens from al-Hudaydah to Karachi. [10]
Month Data | Citizens of Pakistan | Evacuation | Foreign Nationals | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Number | Aerial evacuation | Naval evacuation | Foreign Nationals | Number |
February–March | 1,800 [5] | Various sources | |||
31 March 2015 | 503 [10] | Boeing 747 | 0 | 0 | |
2 April 2015 | 176 [11] | Airbus A310 | 0 | 0 | |
3 April 2015 | 176 [12] | Airbus A310 | 0 | 0 | |
4 April 2015 | 150 [13] | PNS Shamsheer | 0 | 0 | |
5 April 2015 | 146 [14] 142 [14] | Airbus A310 | PNS Shamsheer | India People's Republic of China United Kingdom Philippines Indonesia Egypt Syria Jordan United Arab Emirates | 11 [14] 8 [14] 4 [14] 5 [15] 2 [15] 1 [15] 1 [15] 1 [15] 1 [15] |
6 April 2015 | 134 [16] | Airbus A310 | Canada [16] Somalia [16] | 2 2 | |
8 April 2015 | 51 (36 Pakistanis) | PNS Shamsheer | Romania Bangladesh Qatar Germany United Kingdom Philippines | 2 [17] 4 [17] 3 [17] 1 [17] 1 [17] 1 [17] | |
8 April 2015 | 119 [18] | PNS Aslat | |||
Total estimates | ~3,382 | ~52 | |||
The Pakistan Navy had deployed two Zulfiquar-class frigates for the evacuation: the PNS Shamsheer and PNS Aslat. [19]
Yemenia is the flag carrier of Yemen, based in Sanaa. It operates scheduled domestic and international passenger flights to destinations in Africa and the Middle East out of its hubs at Aden International Airport, and to a lesser extent Seiyun Airport.
Sanaa International Airport is the primary international airport of Yemen located in Sanaa, the capital of Yemen. It services Sanaa City as well as the entire population of the Northern Provinces of Yemen. Initially, a small passenger terminal was built in the 1970s. The runway is shared with a large military base with several fighter jets and transport aircraft of the Yemeni Air Force.
The Zulfiquar-class frigate, also known as F-22P or in English: Sword class, is a class of multi-mission guided missile frigates, in service with the Pakistan Navy. The class is based on an updated model of the Chinese design, the Type 053H3. The frigates were designed and built jointly in Hudong–Zhonghua Shipbuilding in China and the KS&EW Ltd. in Pakistan.
Operation Umeed-e-Nuh , was a naval humanitarian and a rescue operation in order to secure the merchant vessel MV Suez. The operation was carried out by the Pakistan Navy. The merchant vessel MV Suez operated under the flag of Panama and had an Egyptian owner, Red Sea Navigation. On 2 August 2010, the vessel was attacked and taken hostage by Somali pirates. Pakistani human rights activist Ansar Burney and Governor of Sindh, Dr Ishrat-ul-Ibad Khan managed to secure the release of the 22 men crew with a payout of US$2.1 million. The pirates released the vessel on 16 June 2011. However, multiple issues involving low fuel and deteriorated operational and material meant that the crew needed additional help from the Pakistan Navy.
PNS Zulfiquar (FFG-251) is the lead ship of the F-22P Zulfiquar-class guided missile frigates since 2009. She was designed and constructed by Chinese firm, Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding in Shanghai, for the Pakistan Navy. The vessel's design is primarily influenced from the Type 053H3 frigate.
Military exercises are conducted by the Pakistan Armed Forces to increase combat readiness, and to identify problems in logistics, training, and current military doctrine. They also test the ability of units to work together. Lastly, they act as a visible expression of military might, which acts as a deterrent to potential enemy action. An important component of each exercise is the after-action assessment. Since 1989 the four branches services have increasingly begun coordinated exercises.
The following lists events that happened in 2015 in Yemen.
The Battle of Aden was a battle for the control of Aden, Yemen, between Houthis rebels and Yemen Army forces loyal to Ali Abdullah Saleh on one side, and Yemen Army units loyal to Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi and Southern Movement militias on the other side.
The Yemeni civil war is an ongoing multilateral civil war that began in late 2014 mainly between the Rashad al-Alimi-led Presidential Leadership Council and the Mahdi al-Mashat-led Supreme Political Council, along with their supporters and allies. Both claim to constitute the official government of Yemen.
On 26 March 2015, Saudi Arabia, leading a coalition of nine countries from West Asia and North Africa, launched an invasion into Yemen Yemeni Civil War in response to calls from the president of Yemen Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi for military support after he was ousted by the Houthi movement. The conflict ignited between the government forces, the Houthi rebels and other armed groups after the draft constitution and power-sharing arrangements collapsed, despite progress in the political transition led by the United Nations at that time, leading to an escalation of violence in mid-2014. The Houthis and allied units of the armed forces seized control of Sana’a and other parts of the country in September 2014 and in the following months. This prompted President Hadi to ask Saudi Arabia to intervene against the Iranian-backed Houthis.
Operation Raahat was an operation of the Indian Armed Forces to evacuate Indian citizens and foreign nationals from Yemen during the 2015 military intervention by Saudi Arabia and its allies in that country during the Yemeni Crisis. The evacuation by sea began on 1 April 2015 from the port of Aden. The air evacuation by the Indian Air Force and Air India commenced on 3 April 2015 from Sana'a. More than 4,640 Indian citizens in Yemen were evacuated along with 960 foreign nationals from 41 countries. The air evacuation ended on 9 April 2015 while the evacuation by sea ended on 11 April 2015.
International reactions to the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen of 2015 were mixed. Most other Arab League nations and several Western governments backed the Saudi Arabia-led military coalition, but other governments warned against an escalation in the violent situation in Yemen.
The following is a timeline of the Yemeni civil war, which began in September 2014.
PNS Babur (D-182) was a Tariq-class destroyer that served in the Surface Command of the Pakistan Navy from 1993 until being decommissioned in 2014. Before commissioning in the Pakistan Navy, she served in the Royal Navy, formerly designated as HMS Amazon as a general purpose frigate.
PNS Khaibar (DDG-183) is the Tariq-class destroyer currently in active duty in the Surface Command of the Pakistan Navy since 1994.
PNS Tippu Sultan (DDG-185), a Tariq-class destroyer, served in the Pakistan Navy after it was acquired in 1994. Her design was based on the British Type 21 frigate, and previously served in the Royal Navy as HMS Avenger as a general purpose frigate.
PNS Shamsheer (FFG-252) is the second F-22P Zulfiquar-class guided missile frigate currently in active service with the Pakistan Navy since her commissioning in 2009.
PNS Aslat (FFG-254) is a F-22P Zulfiquar-class guided missile frigate currently in active service with the Pakistan Navy since her commission in 2013.