Medical relief flights continue from Sanaa, UN agency says

CAIRO — Flights transporting Yemeni medical patients from rebel-held areas continued Saturday when a second plane carrying 24 patients took off from Sanaa bound for Jordan’s capital, the U.N. health agency said.

The U.N. flights, which began Feb. 3, are seen as a humanitarian breakthrough in the more than 5-year-old conflict in the Arab world’s poorest country. The conflict began with the 2014 takeover of the capital Sanaa by the rebel Houthis, who control much of the country’s north.

A Saudi-led military coalition allied with Yemen’s internationally recognized government has been fighting the Iranbacked Houthis since 2015. The U.S.-backed coalition closed the airspace and prevented any flights from leaving Sanaa, starting in August 2016.