(MENAFN- The Peninsula) A UN aid ship docked in Yemen's devastated port city of Aden yesterday, bringing in relief supplies after four months of fierce fighting between rebels and loyalist fighters.
The humanitarian aid arrived as forces loyal to exiled President Abdarabuh Mansur Hadi pressed on with operations to tighten their control over the southern city.
"This is the first boat carrying the UN flag to dock in Aden since the war began" in late March, provincial Governor Nayef Al Bakri told reporters at the port before a second vessel also docked.
Transport Minister Badr Basalmeh said the second ship was sent by the UAE.
The UN's World Food Programme ship carried 4,700 tonnes of food and pharmaceutical aid, and the second 2,315 tonnes of medical aid.
WFP had tried repeatedly in past weeks to deliver aid but was unable to do so because of security concerns. Vessels sent by the UAE managed to reach the city in May, but not under the UN flag.
A humanitarian ceasefire declared by the UN earlier this month failed to take hold. WFP described the truce as the "final hope" to deliver aid and had sent relief ahead of the truce to the rebel-controlled port of Hodeida in the west, but the insurgents did not allow the convoy to travel to Aden.
Basalmeh said a UAE technical team had arrived to repair the tower and passenger terminal at Aden international airport, damaged in clashes before rebels were driven out.
The UAE said without elaborating that an officer of its armed forces was killed in coalition operations, the third Emirati to die in the conflict.
The UN had warned that the impoverished country was "one step away from famine". More than 21.1 million people - over 80 percent of the population - need aid, with 13 million facing food shortages.
The UN said the conflict had killed more than 3,640 people, half of them civilians. Over the past week, forces loyal to Hadi have recaptured most of Aden from Houthi Shia rebels and their allies. The loyalist advances were backed by warplanes from a Saudi-led Arab coalition that began a bombing campaign against the rebels in late March.
The coalition has never acknowledged putting boots on the ground, but loyalists have been reinforced in Aden by forces trained by the coalition.
Earlier, exiled Prime Minister Khaled Bahah declared Aden liberated, although rebel pockets have fought on in some districts.
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