PNS Aslat with 146 Pakistanis from Yemen arrives in Karachi

KARACHI: Pakistan Navy Ship (PNS) Aslat with 146 Pakistanis and 36 foreigners who were stranded in Yemen arrived at the port here on Tuesday afternoon. PNS Aslat had sailed from Al-Mukallah on April 4.

The foreigners will be sent to their home countries after establishing contact with their respective embassies.

“Today, PNS Aslat brought to Karachi 182 people including 36 foreigners stranded in Yemen,” said mission commander Commodore Zahid Ilyas.

Ilyas said that another Pakistan Navy vessel, PNS Shamsheer, will continue operating in the region.

“Given our resources, we will continue to help our citizens trapped in Yemen and will not rest until the last Pakistani returns home,” he said.

The foreigners include 11 Indians, eight Chinese nationals, five from Philippines, four from the UK, two each from Indonesia and Syria, and one national each from Canada, Egypt, Jordan and UAE.

Ilyas said that some foreigners were not expecting that they would be kept with such hospitality on the vessel but he said that navy personnel “facilitated them in every possible way within our resources”.

“I am hopeful that the Indian citizens would go home as ambassadors of Pakistan after the hospitality they were treated with,” he said.

Indian High Commissioner also thanked the Pakistan Navy for safely evacuating Indian citizens from Mukallah.

Meanwhile, PNS Shamsheer will arrive in Djibouti from Al Hudaydah with 63 Pakistanis and foreigners who were stranded in Yemen.