Global General

US provides $10m in food aid to Yemen

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-06-20 17:14

SANAA - The United States announced the arrival of $10-million worth of food aid in Yemen on Sunday, its embassy in Sanaa said in a statement later the day.

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"The aid was provided by the American people through the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to the World Food Program. The food items, including flour, beans, and vegetable oil, will contribute to the support of 416,000 internally displaced people (IDP) in conflict-affected northern provinces of Saada and Hajjah," the statement read.

The embassy said it has overseen the allocation of approximately $35 million this year to Yemen for emergency and humanitarian projects, including the recently displaced from al-Qaida-hit Zinjibar, the provincial capital city of southern province of Abyan.

The cash-stripped Yemeni government has been gripped by six- year war with armed Shiite rebels in Saada that ended with a fragile ceasefire in February 2009 and displaced over 300,000 citizens.

The impoverished Arab country has recently faced all-round protests since the beginning of 2011, calling for ousting embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The protests have triggered clashes that left hundreds of people dead and undermined economic and security situations that provided more secure space for well-armed terrorist groups to dominate remote cities, including Zinjibar, about 480 km south of Sanaa.