Yemen in contact with US over citizens arrested in arms smuggling: Pakistan

In the weekly briefing, the spokesperson of the Foreign Office said that he has seen the reports of the US Department of Justice on the citizens arrested by the US in arms smuggling to the Houthis in Yemen.

Spokesperson of the Foreign Office, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, said in a press briefing on Friday that the government is in contact with the United States regarding the Yemenis arrested in the arms smuggling case in the United States.

In the weekly briefing, the spokesperson of the Foreign Office said that he has seen the reports of the US Department of Justice on the citizens arrested by the US in arms smuggling to the Houthis in Yemen. However, the citizenship of these arrested residents has not yet been confirmed, seeking consular access from the US to verify their identities.

The spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that they can confirm the citizenship of these arrested persons only after receiving consular access and are in touch with the US Embassy in Islamabad on this issue. 

It should be remembered that last month, the American authorities arrested 14 people on the charge of smuggling 'Iranian-made' weapons to Yemen, of which four people are said to be Pakistanis. 

While the identity of the other 10 people has not been revealed, on the other hand, the names of the Pakistanis have been given as Izhar Muhammad, Muhammad Mazhar, Ghafranullah and Muhammad Pahlwan. According to court proceedings, these persons were caught from a ship in Somalia on January 11.