DUSHANBE (Asia-Plus) – Sixteen other Tajik nationals evacuated from conflict-torn Yemen arrived in Dushanbe on April 16, according to the Tajik MFA information department. They were reportedly carried to Dushanbe from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by Tajik private air carrier, Somoni Air.

As it had been reportedly earlier, sixteen Tajik nationals crossed in Oman on April 12 and on April 13 they arrived in the UAE. 29 other Tajik nationals were evacuated from Yemen by planes of the Russian Emergencies Ministry con April 12.

According to Radio Liberty, the Tajik Embassy in Qatar estimates that there were around 200 Tajik medical workers in Yemen before the current fighting started. About 100 have reportedly been evacuated to Russia, from where some have returned to Tajikistan.

Tajik Foreign Ministry said recently that the Tajik Embassy in Doha (Qatar) is trying to relocate Tajik citizens in Yemen to safer areas before returning them home with the help of Russian authorities and companies.

Five Gulf states, Egypt, Pakistan, Morocco and several other Sunni Muslim countries launched a series of air strikes against the Shiite Houthi rebels, who had gained control of the capital and large swathes of territory in the west of the country on March 25.

Neighbouring Saudi Arabia, has taken full control of the country’s air and sea ports, purportedly to prevent the inflow of weapons from abroad. Riyadh has openly accused its regional arch-rival Iran of funding the rebels, and fomenting unrest in the country of 25 million people.