UNHCR provides aid to displaced Yemenis in Mokha‏

English version

File photo
File photo

Aid has reached the embattled district of Mokha in Yemen, where fighting in a two-year-old civil war has been escalating since January, the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Friday

Intensified fighting has led to more than 48,000 people being driven from their homes in Taiz governorate - where Mokha is located - in the past six weeks alone, UNHCR said

Humanitarian access to Mokha has been particularly challenging due to clashes and movement restrictions imposed by the warring parties

Distribution, which began last Monday, was allowed after weeks of negotiations, UNHCR said

"UNHCR's field staff reported many (people) were traumatized and living in desperate conditions, lacking water and sanitation and sharing limited resources with local host communities," the agency's spokesman, Matthew Saltmarsh, told reporters in Geneva

At least 3,416 people received wash buckets, sleeping mats, blankets and mattresses and other essential items, Saltmarsh said