Red Cross: Yemen’s warring sides wrap up major prisoner swap

By AHMED AL-HAJ
Associated Press

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — The Red Cross says Yemen’s warring sides have wrapped up a major exchange of prisoners linked to the country’s long-running conflict. The International Committee for the Red Cross said it “worked tirelessly to reunite about 900 former detainees with their families” in a three-day operation concluded Sunday. It was the most significant prisoner exchange in Yemen since the Saudi-led coalition and their rivals, the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, released more than 1,000 detainees in October 2020. Yemen has plunged into devastating conflict when the Iranian-backed Houthis seized the capital of Sanaa and much of northern Yemen and forced the government into exile. A Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 to try to restore the internationally recognized government to power.