ADEN, Yemen
A Yemenia Airways plane landed on Thursday at Aden International Airport, the first civilian plane to arrive at the airport after four months of war.
Yemen descended into chaos last September, when Houthi militiamen overran capital Sanaa.
In April, the Houthis also managed to capture Yemen’s southern Aden province, forcing President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi – along with most of his government – to flee to Saudi Arabia.
An official from the High Relief Committee told Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity that the plane that landed at the airport carried 150 Yemenis who had escaped the fighting in Aden to Djibouti.
The official added that Yemenia Airways planes will continue their daily flights from Aden to a number of Arab capitals, after the Yemeni government took control of the country’s main airport.
Media Minister Nadia al-Saqqaf said two days ago that the government-owned national airline will reroute its flights from Sanaa to Aden after Houthi threats to seize any civilian planes that land at Sanaa International Airport.
The Houthis later rejected the accusations of the Yemeni government, which is carrying out its functions from the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh.
Recent weeks have seen pro-Hadi forces – backed up by Saudi-led air power – retake most of the coastal province, allowing for the return of several Yemeni government officials from Riyadh.
Hadi himself, however, has yet to return to the war-torn country.
Nearly 2,000 Yemeni civilians have been killed to date in the fighting between Houthi militiamen and pro-Hadi forces, the UN announced on Tuesday.
