<p>By Shoukry Hussein</p> <p>ADEN, Yemen (AA) – The Turkish Red Crescent on Thursday began distributing 11,000 food parcels — weighing a total of some 440 tons — to displaced persons in Yemen's west-central Maarib province.</p> <p>Mustafa Aydin, a Red Crescent official, told Anadolu Agency that the aid was being distributed to poor families and refugees.</p> <p>Distribution activities will continue until April 30 and will also cover Yemen’s Hadhramaut, Abyan, Lahij, Aden and Taiz provinces.</p> <p>Yemen has been wracked by chaos since 2014, when the Houthi rebel group overran much of the country. </p> <p>The following year, a Saudi-led military coalition launched a devastating air campaign in Yemen aimed at rolling back Houthi gains.</p> <p>Since then, thousands of people — including numerous civilians — are believed to have been killed in the ongoing conflict, while the UN has warned that some 14 million Yemenis remain at risk of starvation.</p> <p>Since the conflict began, Turkey has been a major contributor of humanitarian aid to the war-weary country.</p> <p><br></p> <p>*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat</p>
