Aid workers, medical supplies finally let into war-torn Yemen

SANA’A: Humanitarian aid workers and medical supplies have begun arriving in the Yemeni capital of Sana’a, UN officials said, after the easing of a nearly three-week military blockade that sparked an international outcry.

Aid groups welcomed the decision to let in aid but said flights are not enough to avert humanitarian crisis. About 7 million people face famine in Yemen and their survival depends on international assistance.

“The first plane landed in Sana’a with humanitarian aid workers,” the World Food Programme’s regional spokeswoman Abeer Etefa said. Officials at Sana’a airport said two other UN flights had arrived on Saturday.

The UN children’s fund Unicef said one flight carried “over 15 tons” of vaccines that will cover some 600000 children against diphtheria, tetanus and other diseases.

“The needs are huge and there is much more to do for #YemenChildren,” Unicef said on Twitter.

Airport director Khaled al-Shayef said a flight carrying eight International Committee of the Red Cross employees had also landed. “Sana’a airport was closed from November 6 for more than 18 days. More than 500 employees are trapped inside or outside, denied travel, and 40 flights were barred from Sana’a airport.”

Colonel Turki al-Maliki, spokesman for the Saudi-led military coalition that closed the ports, said three more aid flights had been approved for yesterday.

The coalition, fighting the armed Houthi movement in Yemen with backing from the US, said last week it would allow aid in.

The coalition closed air, land and sea access in a move it said was to stop the flow of Iranian arms to the Houthis, who control much of northern Yemen.

The action came after Saudi Arabia intercepted a missile fired toward Riyadh. Iran again denied supplying weapons to the Houthis.

Maliki said on Friday that 82 permits had been issued for international aid missions since November 4, both for Sana’a airport and Hodeidah, the country’s main port where 80% of food supplies enter. The blockade has drawn wide international concern. Sources in Washington said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had asked Saudi Arabia to ease its blockade of Yemen before it did so. – Reuters