Yemen war: First food aid arrives at port after blockade eased

A UN aid ship carrying food supplies has been allowed to dock at a rebel-held port in Yemen, after the Saudi-led coalition eased a blockade that has lasted for nearly three weeks. The blockade worsened the plight of millions at risk of starvation. Planes carrying medical supplies were allowed to land in the capital, Sanaa, on Saturday but this is the first shipment of food aid to be let in. The blockade was imposed on 6 November after a missile attack on Saudi Arabia. The coalition blocked off land, sea and air routes two days after the Houthi rebels they are fighting in Yemen fired the missile at the Saudi capital, Riyadh. It was intercepted over the international airport. The UN ship, loaded with thousands of tonnes of desperately-needed wheat, had arrived at the port of Saleef. According to the World Food Programme country director Stephen Anderson it is carrying enough food to feed 1.8m people in northern Yemen for a month. More than 20 million people in Yemen are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. Eleven million of those are children and 400,000 are affected by severe acute malnutrition.