WFP gets access to vital Yemen food aid

DUBAI, May 05 (AFP): The World Food Programme said it gained access Sunday to vital food aid on the outskirts of Yemen's flashpoint city of Hodeida a month after postponing its mission for security reasons.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting on the side of the government accused the Iran-aligned Huthi rebels of denying a group from the UN agency access to the Red Sea mills warehouse in April.

The WFP had said the mission was postponed due to "security reasons".

WFP spokesman Herve Verhoosel said Sunday a WFP-led mission and a technical team of the Red Sea mills company gained access to the food aid.

"The technical team will remain at the site to clean and service the milling equipment in preparation for the milling and eventual distribution of the wheat," Verhoosel told AFP in an emailed statement.

Before the UN lost access in September the Red Sea mills held 51,000 tonnes of grain, which was enough to feed more than 3.7 million people for a month.