By Mohd Haidar Ali
JEDDAH, March 10 (Bernama) -- A total of 164 Malaysians stranded in the conflict zones in West Asia have been successfully evacuated and are slated to arrive home on Wednesday in the first mission carried out by the government.
Aside from Malaysian citizens, the group also included five Thai citizens who are family members of the affected Malaysians, along with an Indonesian citizen.
All 170 passengers, on board a specially chartered Malaysia Airlines aircraft, are expected to arrive at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on Wednesday (March 11), 11 am.
National Security Council (NSC) National Crisis Management Chief Assistant Director, Fauzan Amin Misnon, said all them were brought home from four countries, namely Saudi Arabia (Jeddah), Syria, Jordan, and Qatar (Doha).
"The evacuation proses went smoothly, thanks to the close cooperation with the Malaysian diplomatic mission in Jeddah.
"All evacuees came home voluntarily after registering through an online system provided by the Foreign Ministry," said Fauzan Amin, who is also part of the operation to evacuate Malaysians from the conflict zone in West Asia.
Fauzan Amin said overall, the passengers are in good spirits, although two of them require special attention due to health issues.
The operation was carried out at the behest of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who directed that all necessary measures be implemented immediately to ensure the safety and welfare of Malaysians in the affected areas.
Earlier, the Airbus 330-300 aircraft safely landed at King Abdul Aziz International Airport, Jeddah at 8.35 pm local time, and was given a small window for the boarding process.
The NSC is coordinating the operation in close cooperation with the Foreign Ministry through Malaysia’s diplomatic missions in the relevant countries.
The flight also includes a reporter and photographer from the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) as well as a cameraman from Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM).
Tensions in West Asia have escalated since Feb 28 following attacks by Israel and the United States (US) on Iran, which were followed by retaliatory strikes by Tehran against US interests in Gulf states.
-- BERNAMA
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