Saudi Arabia eases Yemen blockade; supplies relief, humanitarian aid in Cholera affected regions

Sana’a, December 2: After the United States and United Nation urged Saudi Arabia to ease the blockade in Yemen, the Kingdom has started supplying the foods, medicines and other necessary humanitarian aid to Sanaa which is affected by both civil war and outbreak of cholera. 

Notably, an official source in the Coalition Forces Command of Saudi Arabia on Friday announced that they are in coordination with the Yemeni government and eased blockade at Al-Ghayza airport in Al-Mahra province to receive planes carrying relief and humanitarian aid.

Official further informed about the arrival of the first Saudi Royal Air Force aircraft loaded with 5,000 baskets of food provided by the King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Works. He, in the end, stressed that the coalition forces have harnessed all the potential to contribute to the delivery of humanitarian aid and relief materials to the beneficiaries within Yemen.

However, the move of Kingdom comes after the United States and United Nations urged Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen to fully lift its blockade of the country and also warned that untold thousands would die if it stayed in place.

Importantly, Yemen is suffering from the dual attack i.e civil war and another one from the outbreak of cholera. Due to an outbreak of cholera, 96% parts of Yemen is severely hampered and effected as the death toll has surged to 2,219 while suspected cholera cases have reached to 9,62,536.

On the other side, Yemen’s civil war erupted in the year 2015 between two factions which has led to the killings of 10,000 of civilians due to air strikes. One is Houthi forces controlling the capital Sana'a and allied with forces loyal to the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh have clashed with forces loyal to the government of Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, based in Aden. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have also carried out attacks, with AQAP controlling swathes of territory in the hinterlands, and along stretches of the coast while cholera has led the situation worst in Yemen.