Yemen: EMERCOM aircraft "blocked" from leaving Sanaa for second day after humanitarian drop-off

Saudi Arabian-led coalition forces reportedly blocked a Russian EMERCOM Ilyushin-78 multi-purpose airplane from delivering 23 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Yemen via Sanaa's international airport for the second day in a row, Friday. According to EMERCOM, the plane is expected to fly back to Moscow with around 75 people on board. Saudi authorities have denied the claims. According to a study compiled in October by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) more than 21.1 million people are in need of humanitarian aid and assistance and around 15.2 million require basic medical attention in Yemen. Some 1.5 million people have been displaced internally as a result of the conflict, while at least 250,000 have fled Yemen in order to avoid it. Estimates also indicate that 6.1 million people are without sufficient food. In total, over 5,000 people have lost their lives during the violence, with upwards of 26,000 sustaining war-related injuries.