Turkish Red Crescent brings iftar meals to Yemen's Aden

ADEN, Yemen

The Turkish Red Crescent is marking the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan by distributing iftar (breakfast) meals to poor families and refugees in Yemen's southern Aden province.

Mustafa Aydin, a Red Crescent official, told Anadolu Agency that 500 meals were distributed Monday at Aden’s Mahram camp to refugees coming from Al-Hudaydah province.

According to Aydin, a total of 3,000 meals will be delivered to refugees coming from Al-Hudaydah and Taiz province and to local orphanages in Aden.

In mid-April, the Turkish Red Crescent distributed 440 tons of aid -- representing some 11,000 food parcels -- to displaced persons in Yemen’s Maarib province.

Yemen has been wracked by chaos since 2015, when a Saudi-led military coalition launched a devastating air campaign against Yemen’s Houthi rebel group.

Since then, thousands of people are believed to have been killed in the conflict, while the UN has warned that as many as 14 million Yemenis face the specter of starvation.

Since the conflict began, Turkey has been a major contributor of humanitarian aid to the war-weary country.

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat