Yemeni government, Houthis swap more prisoners

By Mohamed al-Samei

SANAA (AA) - The Yemeni government and the Houthi rebel group on Friday swapped more prisoners for the second day as two Red Cross planes arrived at the airports of Sanaa and Aden to exchange 351 prisoners.

According to navigation sources, a plane of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) arrived at Sanaa airport, which is under the control of the Houthis, to transport 151 prisoners belonging to the Yemeni government to Aden.

Another ICRC plane arrived at the airport in Aden to transport 200 prisoners belonging to the Houthi group to Sanaa.

On Sept. 27, a joint statement by the ICRC and the UN announced a deal in Geneva between the Houthis and the Yemeni government to exchange 1,081 prisoners, including 15 Saudis and four Sudanese.

Yemen has been beset by violence and chaos since 2014, when the Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

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

Tens of thousands of Yemenis, including civilians, are believed to have been killed in the conflict, which has led to the world’s worst humanitarian crisis as millions remain at risk of starvation.

*Bassel Barakat contributed to this report from Ankara