ISLAMABAD: A special flight arrived from Tripoli in Lahore this morning, with 260 Pakistanis on board, said a statement issued by the Foreign Office spokesperson.

This was the 7th special flight since August 13, 2014 — operated by the Government of Pakistan — for evacuating thousands of Pakistanis who have been stranded in Libya.

Also read: 500 stranded Pakistanis in strife-torn Libya arrive in Lahore

This brings the total number of Pakistanis airlifted back to the motherland to 1,987.

"Around 1,500 destitute Pakistanis presently housed in relief camps set up by the Pakistan Embassy in Tripoli are still awaiting evacuation. Additional flights have been planned for the coming weeks to ensure that all stranded Pakistanis who are being supported in emergency accommodation are brought back to their homes at the earliest, as per Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s directive," the statement said.

The spokesperson recalled that out of a total Pakistani expatriate community of 18,000, around 8,000 have been severely affected by the outbreak of violence in Libya.

Out of these, some 2,700 were helped to flee the country through land borders to neighbouring countries and onwards to Pakistan.

Around 2,000 people have been evacuated by air on government expense, bringing the total of Pakistani nationals already evacuated to 4,700.

"The ongoing operation will continue till all the affectees housed in the relief camps are brought back to Pakistan," the spokesperson said.