Jordan Evacuates Almost 300 Nationals from Yemen

Jordan has evacuated almost 300 nationals from conflict-hit Yemen, where it has joined a Saudi-led coalition waging air raids on Shiite rebels, a foreign ministry spokesman said on Monday.

Spokesman Sabah al-Rafei said 130 Jordanians returned home from Yemen on Monday, traveling overland from neighboring Saudi Arabia, bringing the total number of evacuees to 287.

"We are still working to ensure that all Jordanians are evacuated," Rafei said, quoted by state news agency Petra.

On the 12th day of the Saudi-led air war, more countries were scrambling to pull out their citizens from the Arabian Peninsula country.

An AFP photographer at Sanaa airport reported that three Indian aircraft and one Russian plane had landed in the capital on Monday to evacuate their citizens.

Last week China evacuated 225 people from 10 different countries as well as 449 Chinese citizens, in two separate operations.

Yemen, strategically located near key shipping routes and bordering oil-rich Saudi Arabia, has been sinking deeper into a multi-sided civil conflict since the Shiite Huthi rebels overran much of the country and challenged the authority of the central government.