Sana’a: The Red Cross delivered its second plane-load of aid to Yemen’s capital in as many days Saturday, urgently needed to treat hundreds wounded in fighting between pro-government forces and Iranian-backed Al Houthi militiamen.
Fierce clashes in south Yemen killed at least 25 people overnight, followed by a fresh wave of pre-dawn air strikes by a Saudi-led coalition against positions of Al Houthi militia in Aden, the region’s main city.
The International Committee of the Red Cross says its plane was carrying medical equipment required to treat the wounded after weeks of intense fighting across the country.
“The new cargo is 35.6 tonnes, of which 32 tonnes is medical aid and the rest water purifying equipment, electric power generators and tents,” said ICRC spokeswoman Marie Claire Feghali.
The ICRC and UN each sent planes to Sana’a on Friday carrying 16 tonnes of medicine and equipment, the first aid supplies to reach the capital since the Saudi-led coalition launched air strikes against the rebels late last month.
More than two weeks of armed clashes and air strikes have prompted the UN to call for a freeze in the violence.
UN humanitarian coordinator in Yemen, Johannes Van Der Klaauw, told reporters in Geneva that an “immediate humanitarian pause in this conflict” was desperately needed.
He insisted that the aid delivered to date was far from sufficient.
“The situation in Aden is extremely, extremely preoccupying if not catastrophic,” he said, warning that Yemen’s second largest city had fallen prey to “urban warfare” and “uncontrollable militias”.
The World Health Organization says nearly 650 people have been killed and more than 2,000 injured in the recent escalation in violence.
Street fighting in Aden between Al Houthi militiamen and Hadi loyalists cost the lives of at least seven combatants in a 12-hour period overnight Friday, said a health official in the city.
Among them were “an elderly woman, a man and a child killed by snipers” from the rebel forces, the official said.
A tank shell fired by pro-government fighters known as “Popular Committees” killed six Al Houthi militiamen at Khor Maksar, a district of Aden held by the Al Houthi militia, according to a military source.
Elsewhere, members of the Popular Committees ambushed and killed 12 rebels on the road between Taiz to Lahj as they made their way to Aden, military sources said.
Yemen plunged into chaos last year when Iranian-backed Al Houthi militiamen seized Sana’a, later forcing Hadi to flee to Aden and then Riyadh.
The Saudi-led coalition says it will continue its raids on Yemen until the outlawed armed group retreats to their northern mountain stronghold.
Help has begun trickling into Sana’a and Aden but aid agencies have warned that much more is needed to address the humanitarian situation in Yemen, already one of the poorest countries in the region.
The ICRC said had received reports of aid workers being attacked in the southern port of Aden.
