Dramatic Night Rescue of Indians in Yemen by Indian Navy

The Indian Navy sailed into a barrage of bombs in the dead of the night on Tuesday to evacuate nearly 350 Indians from war-torn Yemen after days of Saudi-led air strikes against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.

Amid bombing and fighting all around the port city of Aden, the rescue took place in total darkness, so much that “one hand had to feel for another” said sources.

The evacuees, including 101 women and 28 children, are being taken to the town of Djibouti – across the Red Sea
on the horn of Africa – where the Indian Air Force’s C-17s are waiting to fly them home.

The navy has released images of the rescued Indians on the helicopter deck of its ship INS Sumitra at the port city of Aden in Yemen.

There are around 4,000 Indians in Yemen. Nearly 750 have been rescued in the middle of Saudi air strikes aimed at forcing Houthi rebels to hand power back to President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.

400 were rescued on Monday with the help of a local craft as India waited for clearance to dock its ships in Aden. Soon after it got clearance, the INS Sumitra, which had been waiting outside the Aden harbor, sailed in.
Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh is in Djibouti to oversee the evacuation efforts. Five diplomats are also stationed there to help.

The evacuation, code named ‘Operation Rahat’, involves naval and air force craft, two passenger liners – Kavaratti and Coral – and two Air India aircraft.

The planes are waiting at Oman’s Muscat, in absence of clearance to fly to Yemeni capital Sana’a.
On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to the Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud. The Saudi king assured him of full assistance in the safe evacuation of the stranded Indians.

Many countries, including Pakistan and China, have rushed their officials, aircraft and ships to evacuate their nationals.

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Source:Ndtv

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