UN Aid Reaches Aden

Two United Nations aid ships have docked in Yemen’s devastated port city of Aden, bringing desperately needed relief supplies after four months of fierce fighting between Houthi rebels and loyalist fighters.

The humanitarian aid, amounting to 7,000 tonnes of food and pharmaceutical aid, arrived on Tuesday as forces loyal to exiled President Hadi pressed on with their campaign to tighten control over the southern city that was captured from rebels last week.

A second boat was also able to dock in the port, as provincial Governor Nayef al-Bakri told reporters: “This is the first boat carrying the UN flag to dock in Aden since the war began in late March.”

The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP), which chartered the ships, had tried repeatedly in past weeks to deliver aid to the war-torn city but failed because of security concerns, and as a humanitarian ceasefire declared by the UN earlier this month failed to take hold.

The WFP had described the truce as the “final hope” to deliver desperately needed aid.

More than 21.1 million people – over 80 percent of Yemen’s population – need aid, with 13 million facing food shortages. This includes more than 6 million people who, according to the UN, are classed as being “severely food insecure” and cannot survive without external assistance,

The conflict in Yemen has killed more than 3,640 people since late March, around half of them civilians.

• Give thanks for the arrival of aid shipments into Aden. Pray for the fair and safe distribution of aid to those who need it most.
• Pray for the millions of displaced people within Yemen who are desperate for medical aid, food and clean water. Pray for supplies to continue to get to these people and for an easing of their living conditions.
• Pray for those who have lost family in the war. Pray for comfort for those who mourn, through the loving arms of God, and the witness and compassion of Christians in Yemen.
• Pray for an end to the conflict in Yemen and a restoration of peace and security for her people.

Isaiah 58 vs 10: “and if you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.”

Source: http://www.aljazeera.com/news