- Title: Yemen government forces storm Aden, seize airport - residents, officials
- Date: 28th August 2019
- Summary: SANA'A, YEMEN (AUGUST 28, 2019) (REUTERS) UNITED NATIONS CONVOY DRIVING BY WORKERS ON TRUCK CARRYING WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME (WFP) AID TRUCKS CARRYING AID VARIOUS OF WORKERS DESTROYING EXPIRED AID SIGN READING (English): "World Food Programme" WORKERS GATHERED (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HOUTHI REPRESENTATIVE, MAGED SARI, SAYING: "We are in the process of destroying damaged food products from the World Food Programme. The products are made up of powdered flour, 204.25 tons. There are also nutritional products for pregnant women, which is now expired and won't even work for animals." VARIOUS OF WORKERS UNLOADING TRUCK WORKER UNLOADING TRUCK VARIOUS OF WORKERS UNLOADING TRUCK OPEN BOX OF SPILLED WFP AID (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE IN SANA'A, YAHIA EL HENDI, SAYING: "These packages are from the World Food Programme. Thank God, we started yesterday with three trucks, and today with four trucks. These are part of the World Food Programme, which are 204.25 tons of flour, and 80 tons of nutrition for pregnant women. They are expired, and they were infested with bugs from storage." VARIOUS OF WORKER UNCOVERING TRUCK CARGO WORKERS UNLOADING TRUCK U.N. CAR WORKERS UNLOADING TRUCK
- Embargoed: 11th September 2019 17:52
- Keywords: Houthis Aden Airport WFP aid expired aid Yemeni rebels Saudi-backed coalition southern separatists
- Location: ADEN AND SANAA, YEMEN
- City: ADEN AND SANAA, YEMEN
- Country: Yemen
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA002AU4UYX3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Yemen government forces on Wednesday (August 28) captured Aden airport from southern separatists and attacked the city's eastern suburbs, residents and officials said, in renewed fighting that deepened a rift between supposed allies in a Saudi-led coalition.
Forces of the Saudi-backed government have recaptured most of the neighbouring towns they had lost to the United Arab Emirates-backed separatists earlier this month before moving on towards Aden, the temporary seat of the government.
The government's information minister Moammar al-Eryani said on Twitter government forces had taken Aden's airport from the separatists. Residents confirmed the report.
The Iran-aligned Houthi movement stepped up missile and drone attacks on Saudi cities. On Wednesday, it said it launched armed drones on "military targets" in the Saudi regions of Jizan and Najran.
The separatists and the internationally recognised government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi are nominally united under the Saudi-led coalition in their battle against the Houthis.
But the UAE has been at odds with the government because it comprises the Islah party, seen as close to the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist movement which the Gulf state has been fighting across the Middle East and North Africa. Islah denies being a member of the Brotherhood.
The Emirati government and a spokesman of the Saudi-led coalition did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Western-backed, Sunni Muslim coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015 against the Houthi movement that ousted Hadi from power in the capital Sanaa in late 2014. His government relocated to Aden.
Meanwhile, Houthis continued on Wednesday to destroy over 200 tons of aid packages from the World Food Programme (WFP), saying they were "expired" and "infested with insects" after storage.
The expired products include 204 tons of powdered flour, as well as over 5,000 cartons containing medication and nutritional products for pregnant women.
The products have been in the possession of Houthi forces since 2018 and were meant to be delivered to the impoverished governate of Taiz, but were held up in the department of customs.
The U.N. agency halted some aid in Sanaa on June 20 out of concern that food was being diverted from vulnerable people, but said it would maintain nutrition programmes for malnourished children as well as pregnant and nursing mothers.
The aid ban resulted from a dispute over control of biometric data between the WFP and the Houthis.
The WFP discovered in December 2018 that donated food in Houthi areas was being systematically diverted through a local partner connected to the group. The Houthis have said the WFP insisted on controlling the data in violation of Yemeni law.
(Production: Mostafa Salem, Nadeen Ebrahim, Ben Dangerfield) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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