The
government of Tanzania has evacuated 25 of its citizens from Yemen as intense fighting
increases in the south of the country.
Tanzania
Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Bernard Membe says
plans are underway to evacuate an additional 60.
The first evacuation
of Tanzanians in Yemen is being planned through Tanzania’s embassy in Muscat,
Oman.
Membe said most Tanzanians who will be evacuated sent out a distress call from
Sarfat and Al-Mazyouna on the Yemen and Oman border.
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Tribesman capture tanks from army bases in Yemen's Hadramawt province
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Meanwhile, Al-Qaeda
militants seized a provincial airport on Thursday in Yemen where the jihadist
network's deadly local franchise has expanded its footprint amid growing
instability.
Yemen-based
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQIP) has tightened its grip on the largely
lawless southeast portion of Yemen since an armed rebellion swept the country and
added to a breakdown in security.
The
extremists now control almost all of Mukalla, a city of 200,000 and the capital
of the southeast province of Hadramawt, including its airport.