Sri Lanka trying to evacuate nationals from Yemen

The Sri Lankan government is making arrangements to evacuate about 100 of its nationals stranded in Yemen as fighting in the Arab nation intensifies, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

The ministry of foreign affairs, in coordination with the Sri Lanka embassy in Muscat, Oman, which is concurrently accredited to Yemen, is exploring all possible avenues to ensure the safe return of the Sri Lankans, Xinhua news agency cited the statement as saying.

"The government of Sri Lanka has sought assistance of the UN Office in Sanaa and the International Organisation for Migration( IOM) in Colombo in the evacuation efforts," it said.

Meanwhile, the Indian government has promptly acceded to the request of the government of Sri Lanka to evacuate the stranded Sri Lankans along with Indian nationals in Yemen, who are to be brought back home by air and sea on special flights and ships, respectively.

Sri Lankan families have been requested to inform the ministry of the whereabouts of their family members to assist in the evacuation.

Fighting in Yemen intensified after Saudi Arabia began attacks over the weekend on Houthi strongholds.