Yemen’s warring sides completed a major, U.N.-brokered prisoner swap on Friday, officials said, a development that could revive the country’s stalled peace process after more than five years of grinding conflict.
This week's prisoner release, the largest-ever in the war, marks a breakthrough in the implementation of a long-awaited deal between Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels and a Saudi-led military coalition supporting the country's internationally recognized government. International pressure has been building on the parties to end the war, which has killed thousands of civilians and triggered the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
“We're very happy this operation has concluded with success, regardless of how challenging it was to put it together,” said Yara Khawaja, a spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Yemen, which has overseen the swap. She expressed hope it would help the warring sides overcome mistrust and restart more substantive negotiations “to end the suffering of millions of Yemenis."
On Friday, several planes ferrying a total of 352 freed prisoners from both sides landed in Sanaa, Yemen’s rebel-held capital, and the southern port city of Aden, the seat of the internationally recognized government, according to the Red Cross. An unprecedented 1056 freed detainees returned home in the two-day swap, including hundreds released on Thursday.
Abdul Raqib al-Omari, director of Aden’s airport, confirmed to The Associated Press that two planes touched down in the city a few hours apart, bringing the total number of prisoners returned to the Yemeni government on Friday to 152.
The first of those who arrived in Aden on Friday had been captured in fierce battles along Yemen’s western coastline, in the strategic port city of Hodeidah, according to officials in the city’s prisoner reception committee. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to talk to the media. The day's second transfer involved an undisclosed number of civilians who had been arrested at checkpoints or kidnapped from homes of relatives in the rebel-held capital during the war, they added.
The devastating conflict erupted in 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and much of the country’s north. That prompted a U.S.-backed Arab military coalition to intervene months later in a bid to restore the government of Yemeni President Abed Rabu Mansour Hadi to power.
In Sanaa, the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV showed the newly freed rebels, clad in traditional white robes, stepping off the plane onto a long red carpet, where they were greeted by crowds of officials, aid workers and relatives as trumpets blared and cries of “God is great!” rang out. They prostrated themselves on the floor, kissing the carpet.
Ahmed Hamed, a Houthi leader, promised cash bonuses to all freed prisoners and said authorities would help all unmarried men cover their wedding expenses.
“We will not abandon our prisoners or forget them,” said Abdel Qader Mortada, the head of the Houthi Committee for Prisoners Affairs, in a message congratulating the freed captives. He said the Houthis were seeking to sign another U.N.-mediated agreement to free more detainees.
In a speech to the U.N. Security Council on Thursday, U.N. special envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths described the exchange as “an airlift of hope." He called for civilians and those arbitrarily detained during the war also to be released, including journalists.
The initial prisoner exchange deal, involving thousands of detainees, was considered a breakthrough during 2018 peace talks in Sweden aimed at ending a war that has killed 112,000 people and pushed millions to the brink of famine. But ongoing military offensives and deep-seated mistrust between the warring sides have repeatedly caused agreements to crumble.
JERUSALEM (AP) — A ship traveling in the Gulf of Aden came under attack Thursday, officials said, the latest assault carried out by Yemen's Houthi rebels over Israel's ongoing war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The attack comes after the U.S. military said early Thursday an allied warship shot down a Houthi missile targeting a vessel the day before near the same area. The Houthis claimed that Wednesday assault, which comes after a period of relatively few rebel attacks on shipping in the region over Israel’s ongoing war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
In Thursday's attack, a ship was targeted just over 25 kilometers (15 miles) southwest of Aden, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said.
The captain “reports a loud bang heard and a splash and smoke seen coming from the sea,” the UKMTO said. “Vessel and all crew are safe.”
The attack was also reported by the private security firm Ambrey.
Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed the attack late Thursday, identifying the ship the rebels tried to target as the MSC Darwin.
European Union forces separately shot down a drone launched from Houthi territory on Thursday, Gen. Robert Brieger said. Separately on Wednesday, the British warship HMS Diamond began the first in the Royal Navy to shoot down a missile since 1991 when it destroyed a Houthi missile targeting merchant ships.
The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping, seized one vessel and sank another since November, according to the U.S. Maritime Administration.
Houthi attacks have dropped in recent weeks as the rebels have been targeted by a U.S.-led airstrike campaign in Yemen and shipping through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden has declined because of the threat. American officials have speculated that the rebels may be running out of weapons as a result of the U.S.-led campaign against them and firing off drones and missiles steadily in the last months.
However, Wednesday's attack was the first one by rebels in some time. An explosion struck some 130 kilometers (80 miles) southeast of Djibouti in the Gulf of Aden, the UKMTO said.
Early Thursday, the U.S. military’s Central Command said the explosion came from a coalition warship shooting down the missile likely targeting the MV Yorktown, a U.S.-flagged, owned and operated vessel with 18 U.S. and four Greek crew members.
“There were no injuries or damage reported by U.S., coalition or commercial ships,” Central Command said.
Saree claimed that attack but insisted without evidence that the missile hit the Yorktown. Saree also claimed the Houthis targeted another ship in the Indian Ocean, without providing proof. The Houthis have made repeated claims that turned out to not be true during their yearslong war in Yemen.
The Houthis have said they will continue their attacks until Israel ends its war in Gaza, which has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians there. The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking some 250 others hostage.
Most of the ships targeted by the Houthis have had little or no direct connection to Israel, the U.S. or other nations involved in the war. The rebels have also fired missiles toward Israel, though they have largely fallen short or been intercepted.
In this photo provided by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), a Sea Viper missile is launched from HMS Diamond to shoot down a missile fired by the Iranian-backed Houthis from Yemen, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired a large barrage of drones and missiles targeting shipping in the Red Sea Wednesday. (LPhot Chris Sellars/MoD Crown copyright via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), members of the HMS Diamond's Bridge team shoot down a missile fired by the Iranian-backed Houthis from Yemen, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired a large barrage of drones and missiles targeting shipping in the Red Sea Wednesday. (LPhot Chris Sellars/MoD Crown via AP)
