EC to Allocate Over $5Mln to Red Cross for Humanitarian Aid to Yemen

BRUSSELS (Sputnik) — The European Commission pledged to allocate more than $5 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to provide relief for the humanitarian crisis in war-torn Yemen, the EU body said in a statement Thursday.

"In response to the rapidly growing humanitarian needs in Yemen, the European Commission is giving €5.1 million [$5.7 million] to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) which is one of the few relief organizations that has access to some of the most vulnerable victims," the European Commission said on its website.

Money will be used to provide Yemenis with food, water and medical supplies.

Yemen has been in a state of civil war since 2014, when the Houthi opposition faction took control over large parts of the country, prompting President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi to seek safe haven in Saudi Arabia.

In March, a Saudi Arabia-led coalition launched airstrikes against Houthi positions in Yemen. In late April, the coalition announced it would end the airstrike campaign, but the operation continued.

Since March, more than 1,600 people have been killed in Yemen and more than 6,200 injured, according to the United Nations.

On May 17, a five-day humanitarian pause in Yemen, which let international organizations deliver emergency aid and evacuate the injured, ended. After the end of the pause, the fighting resumed.