Aden airport destroyed as Pakistanis prepare to evacuate

ADEN: Pakistanis stranded in Yemen told Geo News that intense bombing was taking place in the city of Aden.

The stranded Pakistanis said the army had surrounded the airport with tanks and armoured vehicles and was carrying out bombing in an effort to free it from Houthi tribesmen. According to them the airport building and runway had been destroyed.

Meanwhile, arrangements have been made for the evacuation of 200 Pakistanis stranded in Aden. The Pakistanis will travel in a convoy to a nearby port and from there they will be sent to a Pakistan Navy ship in small boats.

Earlier, a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane with 503 Pakistanis on board from Yemen arrived in Karachi. Another PIA plane will depart for Yemen Tuesday morning and evacuate another batch of Pakistani citizens stranded in the war-torn country.

Shujaat Azeem, the Prime Minister's Special Assistant on Aviation, told Geo News that the foreign office had arranged authorisation to fly over Yemen's no fly zone for the first PIA plane that brought back 503 citizens to Pakistan earlier this morning.