Pakistan faces an unenviable dilemma — whether to join a Saudi Arabia-led coalition fighting rebels in Yemen or stay out and risk angering its old ally which provides it with huge financial support.

Around 500 Pakistani citizens were evacuated earlier by a special plane from the war-torn Yemeni city of Hodeida, but according to Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry around 3,000 Pakistanis live in Yemen, with some 1,000 still trying to leave the country.

Yemen has seen growing turmoil since the Houthis launched a power takeover in Sanaa in February.

The situation worsened as Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies launched military operations including air strikes to counter Iran-backed forces besieging the southern city of Aden, where the US-supported Yemeni president had taken refuge.