Operation Rahat: US asks citizens to board Indian ships in Yemen

NEW DELHI: India on Thursday completed its Operation Rahat with the evacuation of 630 Indian nationals, including 144 nurses, from Sana'a by three Air India flights.

The entire effort has resulted in the evacuation of over 5600 persons, the government said in a statement. These include over 4640 Indian nationals and about 960 foreign nationals from 41 countries. After Indians stranded in Sana'a are evacuated, the embassy will be shut, foreign ministry spokesperson Akbaruddin said.

“Following evacuation by naval ships from Al Hudaydah port for remaining nationals over next two days, embassy in Sana'a will need to shut operations and relocate its personnel,“ said the foreign ministry in a statement, adding that the security situation deteriorated in Yemen with a bomb blast in Aden.

The total number of Indians evacuated from Sana'a by air has crossed 2900 by eighteen special flights since the beginning of the air operations.

Meanwhile, the US issued a fresh travel advisory to its citizens saying the Indian naval vessel was in Hodeidah and “will be departing tonight (Thursday) for Djibouti“. It also pointed out that another Indian naval ship was leaving Djibouti for Aden. “We do not have any contact for these vessels but have been told that US citizens, including Yemeni family members, will be allowed to board. Travelers must have a valid US or Yemeni passport,“ the advisory said.