Saudi-led coalition begins freeing Houthi rebels in peace gesture – Details
The Saudi-led military coalition, which supports the local government in Yemen against Houthi rebels, announced on Friday, May 6, the release of insurgents, in what it called a “humanitarian” initiative.
A first plane carrying Houthi prisoners released as part of the Saudi humanitarian initiative took off towards Yemen, the Saudi official agency SPA reported, quoting the military coalition, Friday, May 6.
In total, “a hundred prisoners, freed by the coalition”, will board three planes chartered by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Friday, ICRC spokesman Omar al-Bashir told AFP. All three flights will take off from Abha airport in southwestern Saudi Arabia, he said, adding that all the passengers are Yemenis who have been detained as part of the conflict that has ravaged Yemen for seven years.
The coalition said the passengers were destined for Aden and Sanaa, the rebel-controlled capital. At the end of April, the coalition announced its intention to release 163 Houthi prisoners, in order to support the fragile truce in force since April 2.
The Saudi-led coalition has been intervening in Yemen since 2015 alongside government forces to counter the Iran-backed Houthi offensive. In addition to the capital, the rebels also control most of the northern part of the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula.
Since 2014, Yemen has been the scene of a war that has claimed nearly 380,000 lives, the majority of which are related to hunger, disease, and lack of clean water, according to the United Nations. Millions more have been displaced.
