Photos: Yemen rebels, Saudi coalition begin prisoner swap

The release and swap of nearly 900 detainees by the two sides in Yemen’s conflict began on Friday, the International Committee of the Red Cross said, a significant confidence building measure amid peace talks between Saudi envoys and the Houthi group.

Yemeni Huthi rebel prisoners are released on their way to board a flight to Sanaa. The ICRC, which is managing the process, said its planes would be used to carry the released detainees between six cities in Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

A freed prisoner sits on a wheelchair as he waits to board an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)-chartered plane at Aden Airport, in Aden, Yemen.

An elderly man embraces one of the returned Huthi prisoners exchanged in a deal Yemen's internationally recognised-government upon arrival at Sanaa International Airport.

It is most significant prisoner exchange in Yemen since both sides freed more than 1,000 detainees in October 2020. Thousands of people are believed to be held as prisoners of war by all sides since the war erupted.

A freed prisoner gestures while holding a child after arriving at Sanaa Airport on an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)-chartered plane, amid a prisoner swap between two sides in the Yemen conflict, in Sanaa.

Yemeni gather at the airport ahead of a prisoners exchange in Sanaa, Yemen.

In the three-day exchange, flights will transport prisoners between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, long held by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, said Majed Fadail, a deputy minister for human rights for Yemen’s internationally recognised government.

Security forces deploy near Aden International Airport in Yemen's southern city.

Other flights will bring prisoners between Sanaa and other Yemeni cities controlled by the internationally recognised government, he said. The Red Cross said that on Friday, there would be two rounds of simultaneous flights between Aden and Sanaa to transfer prisoners.

The conflict in Yemen, which has killed tens of thousands of people and left millions hungry, has widely been seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

A Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015 after the Iran-aligned Houthis ousted the government from Sanaa in 2014. Riyadh and Tehran last month agreed to restore diplomatic ties severed in 2016, raising hopes that Yemen’s peace process would see progress.

A Saudi delegation on Thursday concluded peace talks in Sanaa with the Houthi movement whose officials cited progress and said further discussions were needed to iron out remaining differences. Above, security forces deploy near Aden International Airport.