Dubai: The airport has reopened at the Yemeni coastal city of Al Mukalla, which was recaptured by government and UAE soldiers in April after a year-long occupation by Al Qaida, local officials said.
The first flight in on Sunday was a plane carrying relief supplies from the UAE, the officials said. The UAE said the consignment was carrying 20 tonnes of medicines and medical accessories from the UAE Red Crescent.
The humanitarian aid from the UAE came as part of the Saudi-led Arab coalition’s drive to restore the liberated areas of the war-torn country to normality, especially in terms of health, education, power, water and sanitation.
UAE news agency WAM reported that the people of Al Mukalla expressed their deep sense of appreciation for the humanitarian help from the Arab coalition and the UAE in light of the debilitating challenges facing the country. They stressed that the move by UAE Red Crescent did have a tangible effect on the ground in terms of strengthening the ability of the Yemeni people to deal with the hardships.
The United Arab Emirates has begun sending aid material to Al Mukalla City in Yemen. This is part of the efforts of the Arab coalition for supporting legitimacy in Yemen to extend humanitarian assistance to the people of Hadramout. (Image Credit: WAM)
The southeastern town’s Riyan airport halted regular services a year ago after Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), seen as one of the most powerful branches of the global terror group, took over the town and made it the centre of a rich mini-state along the Arabian Sea coastline.
Exploiting the chaos of a civil war between government loyalists and Al Houthi rebels, AQAP earned an estimated $2 million (Dh7.34 million) a day in revenue from port taxes and fuel smuggling in Al Mukalla, a city of about 500,000.
Around 2,000 Yemeni and Emirati troops advanced into Al Mukalla in the last week of April, taking control of its maritime port and airport and meeting little resistance. Al Qaida said it withdrew to save the city from destruction.
Saudi Arabia and Gulf Arab allies such as the UAE intervened in Yemen in March last year, fighting in support of Yemen’s government after it was forced into exile by the Iran-allied Al Houthi group.
The war has killed more than 6,200 people, displaced more than 2.5 million people and caused a humanitarian catastrophe.
— With inputs from agencies
