DOHA
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced $27 million in aid to the relief committee affiliated with the government of embattled Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi.
The aid was ordered by Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, state WAM news agency reported late Monday.
The fund would be channeled to the Yemeni government's Higher Committee for Relief which was established earlier this week under the chairmanship of Vice President and Prime Minister Khaled Bahah to handle all relief efforts in Yemen.
The committee, in a press conference on Monday, declared the provinces of Aden, Taizz and Ad Dali as disaster zones, and said that around nine million Yemenis are in need for urgent humanitarian aid.
The United Arab Emirates is one of several Arab states participating in the Saudi coalition against the Shiite Houthi group.
Late last month, Saudi Arabia and several other Arab states began striking – from air – Houthi positions across Yemen.
Saudi Arabia says the strikes come in response to appeals by Hadi – currently in Riyadh- for help against the Houthis, who overran capital Sanaa late last year and advanced on other provinces.
Yemen has remained in turmoil since 2011 when a popular uprising forced ex-President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down a year later.
