Yemen war: First food aid arrives at port after blockade eased

Humanitarian agencies fear dire consequences if aid is not allowed in

An aid ship carrying 5.5 tonnes of flour has been allowed to dock at the port of Hudaydah in Yemen, after the Saudi-led coalition eased a blockade that has lasted for nearly three weeks.

The blockade worsened the plight of millions at risk of starvation.

Planes carrying medical supplies were allowed to land in the capital, Sanaa, on Saturday but this is the first shipment of food aid to be let in.

The blockade was imposed on 6 November after a missile attack on Saudi Arabia.

The coalition blocked off land, sea and air routes two days after the Houthi rebels they are fighting in Yemen fired the missile at the Saudi capital, Riyadh. It was intercepted over the international airport.

Saudi Arabia accuses Iran of supplying arms to the Houthis, which Tehran denies.

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Earlier this week, the Saudi-led coalition announced it would reopen access to the Houthi-controlled Hudaydah port for urgent humanitarian aid and Sanaa's airport to UN aid and relief flights.

The easing of the blockade followed a review by the coalition to ensure weapons do not reach the rebels.

Another ship with a similar amount of flour is waiting for the first vessel to unload, the Yemen Post newspaper reports, and more ships carrying emergency aid are also due to arrive.

A spokesperson for the World Food Programme said that 25,000 tons of wheat would be offloaded on Monday.

Planes that arrived in Sanaa on Saturday carried 1.9m doses of vaccines, but the UN's agency for children, Unicef, says that is just a small fraction of what is needed.

"I reiterate my plea to everyone with a heart for children, indeed not to prevent us from delivering what is urgently needed and massively needed," Unicef Middle East Director Geert Cappelaere told Reuters news agency. "Yesterday was just a very small step."

Millions are on the brink of famine in Yemen, the UN says

More than 20 million people in Yemen are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. Eleven million of those are children and 400,000 are affected by severe acute malnutrition.

The coalition intervened in the war between forces loyal to President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi and the Houthis in 2015. Since then ground fighting and air strikes have killed more than 8,670 people, according to UN figures.

Source: BBCNews