Aden gets first UN aid shipment since war began
Aden gets first UN aid shipment since war began
Ship flying UN flag and carrying World Food Programme supplies docks in Yemen city, which has been besieged since Saudi-led campaign began in March.
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Millions of Yemenis have been uprooted from their homes since the conflict began [Getty]
A ship flying the UN flag has docked in Aden with supplies, the first UN vessel to reach the southern Yemeni city in four months of fighting, its governor said.
"This is the first boat carrying the UN flag to dock in Aden since the war began" in late March, governor Nayef al-Bakri said on Tuesday.
The ship is chartered by the World Food Programme, which has tried repeatedly to deliver aid to the port city in recent weeks but failed due to security reasons.
"This will be the first WFP chartered ship to reach the port in Aden," WFP spokeswoman Reem Nada told AFP shortly before the ship entered the harbour.
The programme delivered about 3,000 tonnes of food, a WFP statement said, which would feed 180,000 people for a month.
Vessels sent by the UAE managed to reach Aden in May.
A humanitarian ceasefire declared by the UN earlier this month failed to take hold.
Over the past week, forces loyal to exiled President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi have recaptured most of Aden from Houthi rebels and their allies.
More than 3,200 people have been killed in the fighting since March, with more than one million people uprooted from their homes and nearly 20 million left without access to safe drinking water, the UN has said.
"This is the first boat carrying the UN flag to dock in Aden since the war began" in late March, governor Nayef al-Bakri said on Tuesday.
The ship is chartered by the World Food Programme, which has tried repeatedly to deliver aid to the port city in recent weeks but failed due to security reasons.
"This will be the first WFP chartered ship to reach the port in Aden," WFP spokeswoman Reem Nada told AFP shortly before the ship entered the harbour.
The programme delivered about 3,000 tonnes of food, a WFP statement said, which would feed 180,000 people for a month.
Vessels sent by the UAE managed to reach Aden in May.
A humanitarian ceasefire declared by the UN earlier this month failed to take hold.
Over the past week, forces loyal to exiled President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi have recaptured most of Aden from Houthi rebels and their allies.
More than 3,200 people have been killed in the fighting since March, with more than one million people uprooted from their homes and nearly 20 million left without access to safe drinking water, the UN has said.
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