25,000 tonnes of wheat and aid arrive in Yemen

After three-long weeks of blockade 25,000 tonnes of wheat has arrived in Yemen’s Houthi-controlled ports, Al Jazeera reported.

The shipments arrived yesterday at the red sea port of Saleef, Abeer Etefa, spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP) confirmed.

The Saudi-led coalition applied an air, land and sea blockade on Yemen after the Iranian-backed Houthi group fired a ballistic missile towards the city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Iran has denied that it provided the Houthi armed group with missiles. The blockade lasted some three weeks, leaving war-torn Yemen without any imports of basic amenities or crucial medicines.

The Saudi-led coalition entered the Yemen civil war in March 2015 after the internationally recognised president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi requested to neutralise the Houthi group.

It has been reported that US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson pressured Saudi Arabia to ease the blockade.

Impoverished Yemen has been at war since 2014 when the Houthi group took over swathes of territory from northern Saada governorate. The conflict has remained a stalemate on territorial lines for two years, despite a Saudi-led coalition conducting an air and land offensive against the Houthis.

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