Fifty wounded Houthis (Ansarallah) will be evacuated from Sanaa for treatment on Monday (December 3rd), the Arab coalition said, as the UN envoy landed in the city ahead of planned peace talks in Sweden, AFP reported.
The evacuation on a UN chartered plane marks a key step in kickstarting stalled negotiations.
The fate of wounded Iran-backed Houthis had been a stumbling block to the start of a previous round of aborted peace talks in September. The UN is trying to persuade the warring sides to sit down at the negotiating table this month.
In a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency, Arab coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said a UN chartered flight would evacuate 50 wounded combatants, accompanied by three Yemeni doctors and a UN doctor, from Sanaa to the Omani capital.
Wounded militants were transported across Sanaa in ambulances as they made their way to the long-defunct Sanaa International Airport on Monday.
Meanwhile, UN envoy Martin Griffiths landed in Sanaa on Monday for talks with the Houthis, ahead of yet another attempt to bring warring parties to the negotiating table.
His visit comes as pressure mounts to reopen Sanaa International Airport, which has been shut for more than three years, and is slated as a priority at the planned peace talks.
The Houthis had announced at the weekend that the airport could now meet the requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to "receive civilian flights".
The ICAO has not released a statement on Sanaa airport.
