Over 500 Chinese evacuees from conflict-torn Yemen arrive in Djibouti

DJIBOUTI, March 31-- More than 500 Chinese evacuees from conflict-ridden Yemen have arrived at the Djibouti port as the situation continues to deteriorate in Yemen.

A People's Liberation Army Navy fleet, which had been carrying out escort missions in the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters, was dispatched for the evacuation on Sunday, according to China's Ministry of National Defense.

The first group of 122 Chinese nationals were evacuated from the Yemeni city of Aden and arrived in Djibouti on Sunday night.

The remaining 449 Chinese nationals and six people of other nationalities left the Yemeni coastal city of Al-Hodayda on Monday and have arrived in Djibouti.

China's embassy in Djibouti is working to help the evacuees return to China, said Fu Huaqiang, Chinese ambassador to Djibouti, adding that over 260 of them will fly back to China on commercial flights within two days.

Security sharply deteriorated in Yemen since early March when conflicts erupted in several provinces in the country's southern regions.

The Shiite Houthi group launched attacks on Aden city, which President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi declared as temporary capital after he fled weeks of house arrest by the Houthis in Sanaa.

Last Thursday, a Saudi-led coalition started airstrikes on Houthi targets in Sanaa and other cities, saying the multinational action was to protect Hadi's legitimacy and force the Houthis to retreat from cities it seized since September 2014.