United Nations Aid Ship reaches Yemen for the first time since fighting broke out there in March 2015

 

A United Nations aid ship carrying food supplies has docked in Yemen's southern city of Aden for the first time since fighting broke out there in March 2015

The port has been inaccessible until now because of Saudi-led coalition air strikes and fierce clashes between local militiamen and Houthi rebels

The UN vessel was followed later in the day by another aid ship from the United Arab Emirates.

The UN ship was carrying 4,700 tonnes of food supplies - enough to feed 180,000 people for a month - as well as pharmaceutical aid.

Aden and the other southern provinces of Yemen have been largely inaccessible to U.N. food aid, and around 13 million people - over half the population - are thought to be in a situation of "critical" or "emergency" food insecurity



Note

More than 80% of Yemen's 25 million people now requires humanitarian aid.

Vast amounts of food supplies are needed in Yemen - the UN estimates that 13 million people, more than half of the country's population, are facing food shortages.