Turkish charity delivers Ramadan aid in Yemen

By Said Ibicioglu

AL-JAWF, Yemen (AA) - A Turkish aid agency has distributed aid among needy Yemeni people during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.

The Istanbul-based Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) provided 950 food parcels, 2,350 fast-breaking meals, and water to Yemeni asylum seekers forced to leave their homes due to civil war in the first six days of Ramadan.

The charity group also distributed sacrificial animal meats to 400 families living in refugee camps around Yemen’s central Seiyun, Mar'ib, and northwestern Al-Jawf provinces.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Muhammet Faruk Ozturk from IHH Middle East Desk said that IHH will distribute a total of 3,000 food parcels and will organize fast-breaking meals for 10,000 people during Ramadan in Yemen.

IHH has preparations in place to operate in 120 countries during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Ozturk said.

Yemen has been wracked by violence since 2014, when the Houthis overran much of the country, including the capital, Sanaa.

The crisis escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led military coalition launched a massive air campaign in Yemen aimed at rolling back Houthi gains.

The ongoing conflict has wrecked much of the impoverished country’s basic infrastructure, prompting the UN to describe the situation there as “one of the worst humanitarian disasters of modern times”.

The war has killed tens of thousands of people, destroyed Yemen’s economy, caused a cholera epidemic and forced millions from their homes amid a looming famine.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz