A ship carrying enough U.N. food aid to feed 180,000 people for a month docked at the Yemen port of Aden on Tuesday, having waited for almost four weeks, a World Food Programme spokesman (WFP) said.
It is the first vessel chartered by the UN agency to be able to dock there since Saudi-led air strikes on Shia rebels in the country that began in March.
In a statement, WFP said the ship that arrived Tuesday carries 3,000 tons of food.
"This is a major breakthrough for our humanitarian response," Muhannad Hadi, WFP regional director, said. "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."
First UN aid ship reaches Yemen, bringing food and medical supplies to war-torn country @WFP https://t.co/S0yEamZWHF pic.twitter.com/TaZv5jo6my
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) July 21, 2015
The group has tried repeatedly to send ships to Aden, but all had been previously blocked by severe fighting in the port area.
“In the coming days we hope to reach more people, not only in Aden but throughout Yemen,” Hadi added.
Vessels landed in another nearby port, and aid was delivered by road. The last such road delivery arrived in July 14 for around 27,000 people.
More vessels carrying much-needed fuel and food are planned to arrive in the coming days.
"If conditions remain safe enough, as they are now, we will be able to have other ships arrive safely and offload," said Dina el-Kassaby, also of WFP.
UN ship finally gets food aid to war-torn Yemen, after 4 weeks delay https://t.co/N3UQ43Hu2N pic.twitter.com/lVLM6nNDTu — Rowaida Abdelaziz (@Rowaida_Abdel) July 21, 2015
Meanwhile, in the latest report on the toll the fighting is taking, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported that at least 165 civilians, including 53 children and 23 women, were killed between 3 and 15 July, and another 210 were injured during this period.
“The majority of the casualties are reported to have been caused by air strikes, but civilians are also regularly being injured and killed by mortar fire and in street fighting,” OHCHR Spokesperson Rupert Colville told reporters in Geneva, Switzerland.
“The total death toll since 26 March is now at least 1,693 civilians, with another 3,829 injured,” Mr. Colville said.
