On Monday, three planes transported about 100 prisoners who were being held by the coalition supporting the Yemeni government, led by Riyadh, to Yemen, the day after a major prisoner exchange operation that lasted for three days and included about 900 prisoners from both sides of the Yemeni conflict , according to the International Committee of the Red Cross and the coalition on Monday.

Jessica Mossan, media advisor to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), told AFP that two planes each transported 48 prisoners from Abha in southern Saudi Arabia to Sanaa, the Yemeni capital under Houthi control, while a third plane transported eight prisoners from Abha to Aden, the temporary seat of the recognized government. internationally.

For his part, the official spokesman for the Saudi-led military coalition, Brigadier General Turki Al-Maliki announced, "The completion of the exchange of prisoners and detainees by releasing 104 Houthi prisoners from the coalition."

This brings to 973 the number of those released since Friday.

The conflict in Yemen began in 2014, and the Iran-backed Houthis took control of several areas in the country, including Sana'a. The following year, Saudi Arabia intervened at the head of a military coalition, exacerbating a conflict that left hundreds of thousands dead and created one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

Al-Maliki said, "The initiative is an extension of previous humanitarian initiatives from the Kingdom related to prisoners."

Musan indicated that the "unilateral" release process that took place on Monday "is outside the negotiations that took place in Switzerland last month," during which the Houthis and the government reached an agreement to exchange about 900 prisoners.

"The ICRC facilitates the transfer and provides logistical support, in addition to carrying out other procedures," such as interviewing former detainees, Musan said.

And she affirmed that the committee "welcomes" the Saudi initiative, saying, "We are pleased to see that humanitarian considerations are being taken into account in order to reunite families," adding that this "will give the detainees' families great relief."

The recent exchange process coincided with diplomatic efforts resulting from the Saudi-Iranian rapprochement, aimed at consolidating a long-term ceasefire and putting the bloody war in the impoverished country on the path to a solution.

Al-Maliki confirmed that today's release also comes to "support efforts aimed at stabilizing the armistice and creating an atmosphere of dialogue between the Yemeni parties to reach a comprehensive and sustainable political solution that ends the Yemeni crisis."