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| Yemen aid being held up by violence, says Red Cross | Yemen aid being held up by violence, says Red Cross |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The Red Cross has said it is facing severe problems trying to help victims of the recent violence in Yemen. | |
| “We have a cargo plane with medical supplies which is ready to go,” Sitara Jabeen, a spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, told AFP on Monday. | |
| Related: Crisis in Yemen – the Guardian briefing | Related: Crisis in Yemen – the Guardian briefing |
| “We have the permission for this plane but we have logistical problems for the landing. There are less and less planes landing in Yemen. We are trying to solve the logistic problems,” she added. | “We have the permission for this plane but we have logistical problems for the landing. There are less and less planes landing in Yemen. We are trying to solve the logistic problems,” she added. |
| The Red Cross received approval on Sunday for the aid flight from the Saudi-led military coalition that controls Yemen’s ports and air space. The coalition has conducted 12 days of air strikes against Iran-backed Shia Houthi rebels. | The Red Cross received approval on Sunday for the aid flight from the Saudi-led military coalition that controls Yemen’s ports and air space. The coalition has conducted 12 days of air strikes against Iran-backed Shia Houthi rebels. |
| The Red Cross is also trying to deploy a team of surgeons to the Yemeni port city of Aden, but that “authorisations from all the parties involved” are necessary before this could happen, Jabeen said. | |
| Explosions shook the suburbs of the Aden on Monday as residents reported a foreign warship shelling Houthi positions on the outskirts of the city. | |
| Street fighting and heavy shelling has for several days torn through the city, the last bastion of support for the Saudi-backed president, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. | Street fighting and heavy shelling has for several days torn through the city, the last bastion of support for the Saudi-backed president, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. |
| Twelve days of bombing by a Saudi-led coalition has failed to halt the advance of the Iran-allied Houthis that has triggered a growing humanitarian crisis for residents in central districts now cut off from the mainland. | Twelve days of bombing by a Saudi-led coalition has failed to halt the advance of the Iran-allied Houthis that has triggered a growing humanitarian crisis for residents in central districts now cut off from the mainland. |
| Food, water and electricity shortages have mounted throughout the country but especially in Aden, where combat has shut ports and cut land routes linking the city to the outside. | Food, water and electricity shortages have mounted throughout the country but especially in Aden, where combat has shut ports and cut land routes linking the city to the outside. |
| “How are we supposed to live without water and electricity?” said Fatima, a mother walking through the city streets with her young children. | |
| The ICRC deploys 300 aid workers, including foreigners, in Yemen, the Arab peninsula’s poorest country. It has been negotiating for nearly a week to deliver lifesaving supplies and equipment to Yemen. | The ICRC deploys 300 aid workers, including foreigners, in Yemen, the Arab peninsula’s poorest country. It has been negotiating for nearly a week to deliver lifesaving supplies and equipment to Yemen. |
| On Saturday, it called for a 24-hour humanitarian pause in the conflict to allow aid to reach people cut off by air strikes and to save the lives of “streams of wounded”. | On Saturday, it called for a 24-hour humanitarian pause in the conflict to allow aid to reach people cut off by air strikes and to save the lives of “streams of wounded”. |
| Related: Yemen's Houthi militia gains ground in Aden | Related: Yemen's Houthi militia gains ground in Aden |
| The Sunni state Saudi Arabia launched the air strikes on 26 March in an attempt to turn back the Iran-allied Shia Houthis, who control Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, and restore some of Hadi’s crumbling authority. | |
| The air and sea campaign has targeted Houthi convoys, missiles and weapons stores and cut off any possible outside reinforcements – although the Houthis deny Saudi accusations that they are armed by Tehran. | The air and sea campaign has targeted Houthi convoys, missiles and weapons stores and cut off any possible outside reinforcements – although the Houthis deny Saudi accusations that they are armed by Tehran. |
| The fighting has failed to inflict any decisive defeat on the Houthis, or the supporters of the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who are fighting alongside them, but the growing death toll and humanitarian suffering has alarmed aid groups. |