The International Committee of the Red Cross announced in a statement that it "has begun a humanitarian operation lasting more than a day, aimed at transferring nearly 900 conflict detainees in Yemen." The committee supervising the operation mentioned that "its planes will be used to transport the released detainees between six cities in both Yemen and Saudi Arabia." Al-Masirah TV, affiliated with the Houthis, reported the "arrival of the first plane carrying detainees as part of the prisoner exchange process at Sana'a International Airport."
The two parties agreed during negotiations held in Switzerland last month to release 887 prisoners and to meet again in May to discuss the release of more. Negotiators hoped to reach an agreement based on the principle of "all for all," which includes all remaining prisoners during ten days of talks near the Swiss capital, Bern. The talks were the latest round in a series of meetings that led to the release of prisoners in 2020 and 2022 under a United Nations-mediated agreement known as the Stockholm Agreement.
UPDATE: We've begun a multi-day humanitarian operation to transfer nearly 900 detainees held in relation to the conflict in #Yemen. Our team has assessed the health of the detainees and confirmed they are fit to travel. Follow @ICRC_ye and @ICRC_kw for updates.
