The World Food Program (WFP) provides nearly $8 billion worth of aid annually to about 12 million people in Yemen, a senior WFP official said yesterday.

WFP chief officer in Yemen Asif Ali Bhutto made the remarks during a meeting with the head of the Aden Free Zone during which they discussed the facilities provided by the zone and how they could serve the program’s activities; Anadolu Agency reported.

Deputy Director of Promotion and Marketing in Aden Free Zone Riyam Al-Marfadi quoted Bhutto as saying that the organisation manages and supervises 12 warehouses across the country that serve millions of people in need despite the unfavourable work conditions.

Al-Marfadi pointed out that the zone’s officials have expressed their readiness to help the WFP enhance its humanitarian activities in Yemen.

Impoverished Yemen has remained in a state of civil war since 2014, when Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

In 2015, Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a massive air campaign aimed at reversing Houthi military gains and shoring up Yemen’s embattled government.

According to Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project, more than 100,000 people have been killed in the war, while more than 11 per cent of the country’s population has been displaced.