Thousands of Yemenis receive food aid

For the first time since March, a UN aid ship carrying 3,000 tons of food unloaded its cargo in Aden, a city that has been wrecked by heavy fighting between Houthi rebes and pro-government forces in the past months. The World Food Programme said the ship was carrying enough to feed 180,000 people for one month.

The ship originally anchored in the Yemeni port of Aden on June 26, the WFP said in a press release, but was prevented from docking for three weeks due to fighting in the city.

"It's the first WFP-chartered ship to berth in the port since the conflict erupted in late March," World Food Programme spokesman Peter Smerdon said. "We have additional ships chartered which are on standby heading towards Aden carrying more food and fuel."

The WFP had previously been able to reach Aden via surrounding roads, but WFP spokeswoman Reem Nada told the German DPA news agency that being able to reach the port was a "breakthrough."

"This is a major breakthrough for our humanitarian response in Yemen. While we have been able to reach several southern areas by land, docking at the port of Aden allows us to accelerate our response to meet urgent needs in southern Yemen," said Muhannad Hadi, WFP Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and Eastern Europe. "In the coming days we hope to reach more people, not only in Aden but throughout Yemen."

The WFP said there are an estimated 13 million food-insecure people in Yemen, including more than 6 million who are "severely food insecure," meaning they cannot survive without aid. Six of the seven of Yemen's southern provinces were already deemed to be in a "critical nutrition situation" before the conflict escalated in March.

Pro-government forces retake Aden

Residents say that Houthi forces, which have been controlling the city since April, have been preventing aid from reaching the city. After months of stalemate, on Monday anti-Houthi forces regained control of the area around the port. Fighters are now battling to take back the northern suburbs of Aden, Dar Saad and al Alam, backed by Saudi airstrikes.

Last week , Yemeni forces seized the Aden airport - routing the Iran-backed Houthis in the west of the city. In a counter attack, between 40 and 75 people were killed in Dar Saad on Sunday during Houthi shelling.

"We're in an operation to complete the extension of our control over the city of Aden and to confront the Houthi presence at its entrances," a leader in a local militia told Reuters.

The UN estimates that more than 3,500 people have died in the last four months of the conflict.

mes/msh (Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa)