An exchange of more than 800 prisoners linked to Yemen’s long-running war began yesterday, the International Committee for the Red Cross said.
he United Nations-brokered deal, in the works for months, comes amid concerted diplomatic efforts to negotiate an end to the conflict.
The three-day operation will be the most significant prisoner exchange in Yemen since the Saudi-led coalition and their rivals, the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, released more than 1,000 detainees in October 2020.
Thousands of people are still believed to be held as prisoners of war since the conflict erupted, with others missing. But Fabrizio Carboni, the Red Cross’s regional director, said the release “gives a sense of momentum” for efforts to end the war.
“This will show that there is no way back to violence,” Mr Carboni told journalists.
The Red Cross later said that a total of 318 detainees were released yesterday.
In Sanaa, the Houthi-held capital of Yemen, dozens of former prisoners descended from a plane to a marching band and traditional Yemeni dancers, wearing ribbons with the colours of the Yemeni flag. Family members and a reception line of Houthi political leaders greeted the released with hugs and kisses.
An injured man was seen supported by medical workers. Mr Carboni acknowledged that some former prisoners needed medical care before making their flight, but “nothing out of the ordinary”.
Meanwhile, prisoners released by the rebel Houthis took flights to Aden, the seat of the country’s internationally recognised government allied with Saudi Arabia.
As part of the exchange, flights will transport prisoners from government-controlled cities inside Yemen and Saudi Arabia to Sanaa.
Yemen’s conflict began in 2014 when the Houthis seized Sanaa and much of the country’s north.
The internationally recognised government fled to the south and then into exile in Saudi Arabia.
The Houthi takeover prompted a Saudi-led coalition to intervene months later and the conflict turned into a regional proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, with the US long involved on the periphery, providing intelligence assistance to the kingdom.
However, international criticism over Saudi air strikes killing civilians saw the US pull back its support.
The war has killed more than 150,000 people, including fighters and civilians, and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.