The Indian Navy on Wednesday morning evacuated 348 Indian nationals from Aden and brought them safely to Djibouti from where two C-17 aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) flew them to Mumbai and Kochi after six hours of non-stop flying. These planes flew from Hindon Airbase near Delhi for Djibouti early Wednesday morning.
The rescue operation by INS Sumitra was fraught with danger as it entered the Aden harbour on Tuesday night while heavy fighting was on nearby. Given the urgency of the situation, as the ship or the waiting Indians could have been caught in the crossfire, INS Sumitra conducted the entire rescue exercise named Operation Rahat within one-and-a-half hours and ferried the passengers to Djibouti after two hours of sailing.
The ship may be pressed into service again shortly to bring out more stranded Indians from Aden. Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh was present at Djibouti when the ship reached there. He is coordinating the rescue operations with the Indian Navy, IAF and External Affairs Ministry.
However, the two Air India planes now stationed at Muscat for the last two days are yet to get permission to land at Sana’a, capital of Yemen, where more than 3,500 Indians are awaiting evacuation. As per plan, they were to be airlifted by the two Air India planes and brought to Djibouti for onward journey in two C-17 planes and four Indian ships to Mumbai and Kochi respectively.
With intense fighting going on around Sana’a and reported damage to the airfield there, Air India is yet to start its operations given the inherent risk of getting fired upon by rebels. This may force the Indian Government to change its rescue plans, officials said here on Wednesday.
As regards Aden, the port town of Yemen, an estimated 500 to 600 Indians are present there and 350 of them were rescued. The remaining lot is likely to be rescued in the next day or two by INS Sumitra, they said adding the four Indian ships which set sail from Mumbai and Kochi respectively on March 31 are expected to reach Aden on April four or five to enhance the ongoing rescue operations.
As C-17s and two Air India planes have limited capacity for carrying passengers, the bulk of Indian nationals will be evacuated by these ships including merchant vessels Kavaratti and Corals besides warships INS Mumbai and INS Tarkash, officials said. But these evacuations will depend on the situation in Sana’a and Aden in the coming days, they said adding the distance between Djibouti and Mumbai or Kochi is about 4,000 km.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in a tweet on Wednesday said: “Indian nationals evacuated from Aden by Indian Navy have reached Djibouti. They will be brought back to India by Indian Air Force today (Wednesday). One plane will land in Kochi and the other in Mumbai late this evening. My colleague General VK Singh is coordinating the operations with Indian Navy and Air Force in Djibouti.”
Out of 348 evacuees, 250 belong to Kerala, 40 are from Tamil Nadu, 31 from Maharashtra, 23 from West Bengal, 22 from Delhi, 15 from Karnataka while 13 are from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said.
“A national effort is underway to bring back Indians engulfed in turbulence in Yemen. On Tuesday night the first endeavor was successful as the first batch was rescued in the darkness even though there were issues of their security etc. A contingent of diplomats led by Minister of State VK Singh is overseeing the rescue operations. This is the first phase and we hope to press on it today (Wednesday) to bring back all those who want to come back,” he said.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia-led coalition warplanes pounded Yemen’s Shiite rebels for the sixth day on Tuesday, destroying missiles and weapons depots besides for the first time using warships to bomb the rebel-held airport and eastern outskirts of the port city of Aden.