Turkish aid agency helps deaf-mute children in Yemen

By Shukri Huseyin

ADEN, Yemen (AA) - A Turkish aid agency provided food aid for deaf-mute children in Yemen's Aden province Tuesday.

The Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) distributed 500 food aid packages to deaf-mute children at a nursing and rehabilitation center for disabled people.

In a ceremony marking the aid's distribution, AFAD's Yemen representative, Burhan Aslan, said it was part of AFAD's aid campaign in Yemen to distribute a total of 4,500 food aid packages in six provinces.

Also speaking, Yemen's High Relief Committee General Coordinator Jamal Bilfakeh thanked Turkey under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, AFAD and the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) for providing help to the Yemeni people.

Bilfakeh said it marks the first time that a foreign aid agency has distributed aid to deaf-mute children in Yemen and brought smiles to their faces.

Impoverished Yemen has remained wracked by violence since 2014, when Houthi rebels overran much of the country.

The conflict escalated in 2015 when Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a massive air campaign -- which still remains underway -- against the rebels.