Operation Raahat (India)

Operation Raahat (राहत Rāhata, lit. "Relief") was an operation of the Indian Armed Forces to evacuate Indian citizens and other foreign nationals from Yemen during the 2015 military intervention by Saudi Arabia and its allies in that country during the Yemeni Crisis. The evacuation by sea started on 1 April 2015 from Aden port. The air evacuation started by Indian Air Force and Air India on 3 April 2015 from Sanaa. More than 4640 Indian citizens in Yemen were evacuated along with 960 foreign nationals of 41 countries. The air evaculation ended on 9 April 2015 while the evacuation by sea ended on 11 April 2015.

Background
The 2015 military intervention in Yemen began on March 27, 2015 when the Royal Saudi Air Force led a coalition of Arab states in attacking the Shiite Houthi rebels. This was preceded by weeks of turmoil during which the Houthi guerrillas toppled the government of President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and took over the large parts of the country.

Anticipating further hostilities, India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had issued advisories on January 21, 2015 to Indian expatriates in Yemen to leave the country. A second travel advisory urging Indians to avoid travel to Yemen, and to leave the country was issued on February 20, 2015. Finally on March 25, 2 days before the attack by the Arab coalition, the MEA issued an urgent advisory urging all Indian citizens to evacuate as soon as possible. However, more than 5000 Indian citizens had not heeded the warnings and were trapped in Yemen.

Response
As Yemen was not accessible due to no-fly zone, India chose Djibouti as a centre for initial evacuation by sea. Indians advised to reach Sanaa and Aden.

INS Sumitra (P59), an offshore patrol vessel, which had been deployed for anti-piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden since 11 March 2015 was the first to undertake evacuation from Yemen. The Indian Navy re-deployed the ship off the Port of Aden on 30 March and, thereafter, entered Aden harbour in the evening of 31 March. The ship evacuated 349 Indians from Aden and transported them to Djibouti. During the evacuation operations at Aden, the ship reported bombing and gunfire and a general disorder, pandemonium and unrest. At Djibouti, the evacuees were met by Gen (Retd) VK Singh, the Minister of State for External Affairs, the Indian Ambassador to Ethiopia and the Bangladeshi Ambassador to Kuwait before being airlifted to India by the Indian Air Force. After disembarking evacuees at Djibouti, the ship headed for the Port of Hodeidah on 2 April and evacuated another 317 people amidst similar insecure conditions with bombing in the distance. This second wave was transported to Djibouti on 3 April.

In addition, the Navy dispatched destroyer INS Mumbai (D62) and frigate INS Tarkash (F50) from Mumbai on the evening 30 March to escort two passenger vessels, MV Kavaratti and MV Corals, through the piracy-infested waters of the Gulf of Aden. These passenger vessels which normally ply between Kochi and Lakshadweep had sailed from Kochi on 30 March. On 4 April 2015, INS Mumbai reached Aden but was unable to dock due to shelling so the people were ferried to the ship in small boats. Evacuation of over 400 persons was undertaken using small crafts plying between the ship and the Aden harbour. The ship maintained a distance from the harbour as local authorities did not accord necessary approvals for INS Mumbai to enter Aden port due to the worsening situation there. These crafts were hired by authorities ashore for this purpose. The operation was conducted till just past sunset and on completion of embarkation of evacuees, the ship proceeded to Djibouti to disembark them for onward passage to India. The ship's crew vacated their own living quarters to accommodate evacuees. INS Tarkash evacuated 46 Indians and 422 foreign citizens hailing from 14 countries, from Aden port on 10 April and disembarked at Djibouti on 11 April. The ship also carried the body of Manjeet Singh, a resident of Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh, who had succumbed to injuries sustained during bombing in Aden. Amongst the evacuees there were also four pregnant women, one patient each suffering from cancer and renal failure and two malnourished children who were provided succor and medical aid by the INS Tarkash crew. Gunshots, shelling and firing in the port area and on the jetty were reported by the ship's crew.

The Indian Air Force deployed two C-17 Globemaster cargo aircraft with a capacity of carrying 600 passengers to Djibouti. In addition, two Airbus A320 aircraft of Air India were also deployed to Muscat in neighboring Oman. When Air India was permitted to fly to Yemen on 3 April 2015, it started evacuating people from Sanaa to Djibouti and Djibouti to Mumbai or Kochi. Two C-17 Globemasters flew 9 sorties to Mumbai and 2 to Kochi from Djibouti.

Over the days more than 4640 overseas Indians were evacuated along with 960 foreign nationals of more than 41 countries. Some of them did not have the operational capability to carry out rescue operation so they sought help of India. These countries included: Bahrain, Bangladesh, Canada, Cuba, Czech Republic, Djibouti, Egypt, France, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Maldives, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Slovenia, Sweden, Syria, Turkey, Thailand, Uganda, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Out of total 5600 people, 2900 Indians were evacuated by special eighteen flights from Sanaa and 1670 Indians by ships from four ports by Indian Navy. Eleven Indians were evacuated by the Pakistan Navy's PNS Aslat from Al Mukalla reached Karachi and were later flown back to India on 8 April 2015. The air evacuation ended on 9 April 2015 while the sea evacuation ended on 11 April 2015. 200 Indians refused to leave Yemen due to various reasons.

The following table gives details of evacuations carried out by the Indian Navy, but does not include air evacuations:

INS Mumbai and INS Tarkash returned to Mumbai harbour on 16 and 18 April 2015, after completing Operation Raahat.

MV Kavaratti and MV Corals arrived in Kochi on 18 April. The ships had helped evacuate 475 passengers including 73 Indians, 337 Bangladeshis, and 65 Yemeni citizens of Indian origin.