23 Singaporeans evacuated from Yemen

At least 23 Singaporeans have been evacuated from Yemen over the past two weeks, the foreign ministry said on Monday.

Eight Singaporeans and a number of other nationals from Brunei, Cambodia, India, Malaysia and Vietnam reached Oman on Sunday from southern Yemen's Tarim town, The Straits Times reported citing a ministry statement.

A crisis response team (CRT) was despatched to the Oman-Yemen border to receive the eight Singaporeans, who will be returning home later this week, the statement said.

"The Singaporeans told us that the journey was tiring, more than 20 hours on the road with several stops. My colleagues and I are relieved that they arrived safely in Salalah. We would also like to thank the Omani government for facilitating the operations of our CRT," Richard Grosse, consul-general of Singapore in Muscat and head of the CRT, said.

Earlier, 15 Singaporeans were evacuated last week. It is not known how many Singaporeans still remain in Yemen.

Saudi Arabia is heading a coalition of nine Arab countries which since March 26 has carried out airstrikes against the Shia Houthi rebels who captured Yemen's capital city of Sana'a in September.