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Emergency aid from the International Committee of the Red Cross is being readied in an aircraft prior to its departure to Yemen in Liege, Belgium on Thursday.
AFP/Sanaa
The Red Cross said it flew an aircraft into Sanaa on Friday, delivering its first medical aid to Yemen's capital since a Saudi-led coalition launched air strikes against Shia rebels.
"This is the first ICRC plane to have landed in Sanaa. It is loaded with 16 tonnes of medical aid," said Marie Claire Feghali, spokeswoman in Yemen for the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The shipment was made up of "drugs and surgical instruments," the spokeswoman said via telephone from Sanaa airport after the arrival of the plane.
"Tomorrow, a second plane will be carrying 32 tonnes of medical supplies, generators and water purification equipment for hospitals in Sanaa," she added.
On Wednesday a Red Cross boat carrying medical aid and personnel docked at Yemen's southern city of Aden, the main battleground in the conflict between forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
On board was a team of five medics from Doctors Without Borders (MSF), according to the head of MSF in Yemen, Marie-Elisabeth Ingres.
Ingres said at the time that another boat travelling from Djibouti and carrying 2.5 tonnes of medical aid had reached Aden, the first aid delivered since the Saudi-led coalition launched its strikes on March 26.
The Red Cross has been appealing for an immediate truce to facilitate aid deliveries.
It has called for land, air and sea routes to be opened to allow delivery of 48 tonnes of medical supplies it has ready to treat up to 3,000 wounded.
Air strikes hit military targets in Sanaa
Saudi-led air strikes hit Yemen's capital Sanaa early on Friday, targeting weapons storage sites used by soldiers loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, a powerful supporter of Houthi militias.
The air raids, which targeted parts of the Defence Ministry and other facilities lasted several hours, residents told Reuters by telephone.
"The sky was lit up," Sanaa resident Fadel Muhammad said. "We heard big explosions."
Houthi fighters who control the capital have also been trying to seize the southern city of Aden from local militias.
Saudi Arabia launched air strikes against the Houthis in neighbouring Yemen two weeks ago with a coalition made up mainly of the kingdom and four Gulf Arab allies. The US said on Tuesday it is speeding up arms supplies to the coalition.
There are no comments.
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