Iran aid ship destined for Yemen sailing Indian Ocean waters

An Iranian cargo vessel carrying tons of medical aid and foodstuff is sailing through the Indian Ocean to deliver its humanitarian cargo to war-hit Yemen.

On Friday, the Iranian ship, dubbed Nejat (Rescue) and carrying 2,500 tons of much-needed humanitarian supplies, continued its journey through the Indian Ocean after leaving the Sea of Oman behind.

Nejat, which belongs to Iran’s Valfajr Shipping Company, left the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas for Yemen’s western port city of Hudaydah, located about 150 kilometers (93 miles) southwest of the capital, Sana’a, on Monday evening.

Saudi military forces fired over a dozen rockets into neighboring Yemen in flagrant violation of the five-day ceasefire, which came into effect at 11:00 p.m. local time (2000 GMT) on May 12.

On Friday afternoon, Saudi soldiers fired at least eight rockets at the al-Mazraq camp in Yemen’s northwestern province of Hajjah. Six other rockets also fired by Saudi forces slammed into al-Husamah area in the northwestern province of Sa’ada.

UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen Johannes Van Der Klaauw said on Friday, “The impact of the conflict (in Yemen) has shown that it has a dreadful toll on civilians. Two months into the conflict that have been recorded, and these are conservative figures, more than 1,600 people killed and more than 6,200 injured by airstrikes and also [from] fighting on the ground.”

He added that some 450,000 people have been displaced as a result of the continuing violence.