Saudi-led coalition to provide $1.5-bn aid for Yemen

Riyadh, Jan 22 : The Saudi-led military coalition, which is currently fighting Houthi militias in Yemen, on Monday announced a $1.5 billion aid package for Yemen, Al Arabia News reported.

"The coalition will provide $1.5 billion in humanitarian assistance," said the coalition in a statement.

The coalition promised to keep all ports open, including the Hodeidah port, to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Yemenis, considering the blockade of Houthis on ports under their control.

It added that it aimed to increase monthly imports to Yemen from 1.1 million metric tons last year to 1.4 million metric tons and that it seeks to open land, sea and air access to Yemen to ensure the increase in delivery.

The coalition pledged funding of $40 million for the expansion of ports to accommodate additional humanitarian shipments, adding that it would set up an air corridor between Riyadh and the central Yemeni province of Marib to run multiple aid flights of C130 cargo planes.

The coalition said it would set up 17 additional "safe-passage corridors" to facilitate land transport for humanitarian organisations operating in the remote interiors of Yemen.

The announcement came after Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud decided to transfer $2 billion to the Central Bank of Yemen last week, in an attempt to stabilise the collapsing Yemeni currency.

The Saudi-led coalition has intervened in the Yemeni conflict since March 2015 to roll back the Houthi militants and support the internationally recognised President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who was forced into exile by the Houthis.

The war has killed over 10,000 Yemenis, mostly children, and displaced 3 million others, creating one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.