Sanaa’s international airport was blockaded seven years ago by a Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels. Read more at straitstimes.com.
SANAA - The first commercial flight from Yemen’s rebel-held capital to Saudi Arabia since 2016 took off carrying haj pilgrims on Saturday, in the latest sign of easing tensions after years of war.
The Jeddah-bound flight is the first to Saudi Arabia since Sanaa’s airport was closed by the coalition blockade in August 2016, more than a year into the Saudi-led military campaign to dislodge the Houthis. But despite coalition bombing raids and ground clashes, the Huthis, who seized control of Sanaa in 2014, ousting the internationally recognised government, rule over large swathes of the country.
“We can no longer bear the burdens and hardships of travelling to Aden,” said Mr Akram Mohamed Murshid, one of the pilgrims boarding the plane. After Iran reopened its embassy in Riyadh earlier this month, on Saturday Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister visited Teheran, where he held talks with his opposite number.
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