WASHINGTON (Web Desk) – The United States is supplying intelligence to the Saudi-led coalition bombing rebels in Yemen and will expedite arms supplies to the alliance, Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken has said.
Blinken told reporters in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Tuesday that Saudi Arabia was sending a “strong message to the Houthis and their allies that they cannot overrun Yemen by force”.
The Houthi rebels swept into the Yemeni capital Sanaa in September and have since tried to expand their control across the country. In February, they placed President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi under house arrest before he fled to his power base in the southern city of Aden and then to Saudi Arabia.
Tony’s comments came hours after the International Committee of the Red Cross flew medical personnel for the first time into Yemen amid delays that have worsened the humanitarian situation in Aden.
Fierce fighting between militias loyal to Hadi and and the Houthis has been raging in the port city for days.
“First @ICRC flight reached Sanaa. More to come by air and sea when clearances [are] received to bring urgently needed medical supplies,” Dominik Stillhart, director of operations at the ICRC, posted on his Twitter account.
Sitara Jabeen, an ICRC spokesperson, said the first flight was a small passenger plane carrying medical staff and that it landed on Monday.
A cargo plane with medical supplies is waiting in the Jordanian capital Amman, she said.
“This plane will go to Sanaa tomorrow [Wednesday],” said Jabeen.
