Govt races to avoid Iraq-like hostage situation in Yemen

NEW DELHI: Fearing an Iraq-like crisis when a group of Indian nurses was taken captive briefly by gun-toting militants, the Modi government has accelerated evacuation of 4,000 Indians from strife-torn Yemen.

While 349 Indians were evacuated from the Yemeni port city of Aden late Tuesday, the efforts suffered a setback when an aircraft was denied permission to land in the capital Sanaa Wednesday.

At least 3,000 Indian -- half of them nurses -- remain confined to their places of work in the Arab country, which is in the grip of its most severe crisis in years, as competing forces fight for control.

“We are concerned about a hostage-taking situation,’’ a ministry of external affairs official told HT Wednesday.

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