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Friday, March 29, 2024

DFA orders evacuation from Yemen

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 THE Department of Foreign Affairs raised Alert Level 4 in Yemen after the United Nations talks with Houthi rebels occupying the capital city of Sana’a broke down.

“Under this Alert Level, the Philippine Government undertakes mandatory evacuation procedures,” the DFA said in a statement.

The DFA said a Crisis Management Team has been deployed to Sana’s by the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh to help Filipinos in the strife-torn country to leave and return to the Philippines.

“All Filipinos are urged to contact the embassy’s team in Sana’a for assistance in the implementation of the mandatory repatriation of all Filipinos from Yemen,” it said.

The Department of Labor and Employment, which has already repatriated 36 OFWs in January, also activated its labor attaches to help overseas Filipino workers during the repatriation process.

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“We are closely monitoring the situation in Yemen and are constantly in touch with the members of the Philippine contingency team there. The safety of our OFWs in Yemen is our foremost consideration,” the DoLE said in a statement.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz has directed Labor Attache David Des Dicang in Yemen to assist OFWs seeking repatriation.

The DoLE said that escalating domestic violence has already claimed the lives of 56 people, including seven overseas Filipino workers last year.

On Thursday, Agence France Presse reported that eight Yemeni soldiers guarding oil installations were killed Wednesday during a gunfight with tribesmen in the southeastern province of Hadramawt, a military official said.

Three other soldiers were wounded in the clash, which erupted near an oil field in the Wadi Dawan area, the official said.

Witnesses said armed tribesmen attacked a military convoy carrying supplies to their post, triggering the gun battle.

They said some of the assailants were killed, without specifying how many.

The attack comes amid rising security fears in Yemen since the Shiite Huthi militia tightened its grip on power in the capital Sanaa this month, prompting an exodus of foreign diplomats.

Elsewhere, a military intelligence officer was gunned down in the southern city of Aden, where various armed groups opposing the Huthis are increasingly in control.

Assailants opened fire at Colonel Mohammed al-Zahrawi in Mansura district, a military source said, adding that he died instantly, while the gunmen escaped.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which the United States considers the jihadist network’s most dangerous branch, remains active in the south of Yemen.

The Huthis’ attempt to extend their control has been met by deadly resistance from AQAP.

Sunni tribes have also fought the Shiite militia since it overran Sanaa in September.

AQAP frequently attacks both Yemeni security forces and Western targets.- With AFP

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