DUSHANBE, May 12, 2015, Asia-Plus – Nine other nationals of Tajikistan, including five minors, were evacuated from the conflict-torn Yemen under support of the Tajik Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia arrived in Dushanbe on May 9.

According to the Tajik Embassy in Riyadh, more than 170 Tajik nationals have been evacuated from Yemen so far.

Meanwhile, the Tajik Embassy in Doha, Qatar estimates that there were around 200 Tajik medical workers in Yemen before the current fighting started.

Five Gulf states, Egypt, Pakistan, Morocco and several other Sunni Muslim countries launched a series of airstrikes against the Shia Houthi rebels, who had gained control of the capital and large swathes of territory in the west of the country on March 25.

Neighboring Saudi Arabia, has taken full control of the country’s air and sea ports, purportedly to prevent the inflow of weapons from abroad.  Riyadh has openly accused its regional arch-rival Iran of funding the rebels, and fomenting unrest in the country of 25 million people.