Red Cross: 16 employees, volunteers killed in Yemen in 10 years

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) revealed that 16 of its employees and volunteers had been killed in Yemen over the past ten years.

This came in statements made by Sara Al-Zawqari, regional spokesperson/public relations for the Near and Middle East at the ICRC to Anadolu Agency a day after 26 people were killed in the Aden airport bombings in southern Yemen, including three ICRC employees.

“Since 2011, the ICRC has lost 16 staffers in Yemen, including six employees, and ten Yemeni volunteers, all of whom were working in the various governorates to provide humanitarian assistance,” explained Al-Zawqari.

She added: “We are deeply saddened to see our staff getting killed and injured while carrying out humanitarian work.”

Al-Zawqari pointed out that on the day of the explosion, an ICRC plane that was set to transfer 12 employees from Sana’a to Djibouti landed at Aden International Airport when the incident occurred.

She stated: “We lost Ahmed, who is charged with coordinating the movement of our employees and the flow of aid to those affected by the conflict via Aden airport, and who participated in efforts to release of more than 1,000 former detainees (in a prisoner exchange deal  between the government and the Houthis last October).”

Al-Zawqari added: “We also lost Dr Hamid, who was about to submit his PhD thesis, which would have enabled him to provide better healthcare services to his patients in one of the hospitals that we support.”

“Our colleague Kiranga Sidi, from Rwanda, travelled thousands of kilometres to reach Yemen in order to offer his expertise as a radiographer to many patients in Yemen,” she continued.

Al-Zawqari stressed the need: “To neutralise civilians, to protect medical care personnel and to allow them and those working in the humanitarian field to perform their duties.”

The Aden International Airport bombing death toll has risen to 26. In addition, more than 100 were wounded, according to a government statement issued on Thursday.