As a result of the ongoing fighting, people continue to flee conflict areas. In Al-Buqa, north of Sa'ada city, more than 5,500 displaced people are said to be gathering in two different places (the ICRC has not been able to confirm the exact number of people). The Yemen Red Crescent and the ICRC have set up 450 tents at one of the sites and built 140 latrines altogether in both locations.

Over the past week, the ICRC and the Yemen Red Crescent's Sa'ada and Amran branches have provided food and other essential items, such as hygiene items and blankets, to more than 20,700 displaced people (IDPs) and residents in Sa'ada and Amran governorates.

In Wadi Khaiwan (Khaiwan Medina and Khaiwan Al-Hamra), the ICRC and Yemen Red Crescent volunteers managed to distribute urgently needed food to more than 12,300 displaced people and residents, who were given three-month rations consisting of wheat, rice, beans, cooking oil, sugar and salt. Nearly two thirds of those receiving food aid were also given hygiene items and blankets.

This long-awaited distribution followed a first round carried out in September last year. "As tens of thousands of people have fled from area to area within Amran governorate, much pressure has inevitably been put on residents' already limited resources," said Boris Maver, the ICRC's head of operations in Amran. "That is why the ICRC provides assistance not only for the displaced but also for the communities hosting them."

"It took months to organize this distribution in Wadi Khaiwan, and we feel relieved that some of the crucial needs of the people who are most vulnerable are covered for at least three months," said the ICRC's head of delegation in Yemen, Jean-Nicolas Marti.

Amid heavy fighting in the old town of Sa'ada, the ICRC and Yemen Red Crescent volunteers succeeded in carrying out a distribution of urgently needed food – the third such distribution since December 2009 in that part of the city, which is particularly difficult to reach. The food rations will cover the needs of nearly 8,500 residents for at least one month.

Since fighting resumed in mid-August last year, the ICRC has provided aid for at least 150,000 people in cooperation with the Yemen Red Crescent. Both organizations are striving to respond to needs which are growing more urgent by the day. The ICRC and the YRCS are maintaining their aid effort despite difficult security conditions, which make their work dangerous.