PM Shehbaz directs arrangements to bring back Pakistani students from Kyrgyzstan

LAHORE: Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday contacted Ambassador of Pakistan in Kyrgyz Republic Hassan Ali Zaigham and directed him to make necessary arrangements for a special flight to be sent to Bishkek this evening to bring back Pakistani students.

The special airplane will bring back 130 students to Pakistan on Sunday night, PM Office Media Wing said in a press release.

At the instructions of the prime minister, the government of Pakistan will bear all the expenses of the special plane.

The prime minister directed for keeping continuous contacts with all the students and their families, emphasising that the return of injured students should be a priority.

He further asked for bringing back those students back whose families were residing with them in Kyrgyzstan on urgent basis.

The ambassador of Pakistan Zaigham apprised the prime minister of his meeting with the Kyrgyz deputy foreign minister. According to Kyrgyz authorities, the situation was under control and no new incident of violence took place in the last two days. Security measures had been enhanced and the foreign students including Pakistanis were safe.

The prime minister directed that despite return of normalcy in Bishkek, those students should be facilitated who wanted to return to Pakistan.

A number of students have already returned from Kyrgyzstan on Sunday via commercial flights.

Kyrgyzstan violence

Violent clashes erupted between student groups in Kyrgyzstan’s Bishkek, with reports of attackers using batons. The attackers forcefully entered the hostel rooms and wounded several international students including Pakistanis.

The violence reportedly erupted due to a harassment incident involving Egyptian female students on May 13.

Kyrgyz police said they had mobilised forces in the Central Asian nation’s capital yesterday to quell the violence, in which hundreds of Kyrgyz men attacked buildings housing foreign students, including Pakistanis.