国际英语新闻:UN plane brings Yemeni civilian patients home from Jordan

SANAA, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- A UN plane brought Yemeni civilian patients to the Houthi militia-held capital Sanaa in Yemen on Sunday after they were airlifted earlier this year to Jordan to undergo treatment for critical illness.

The "UN flight carrying civilian Yemenis and their companions just landed in Sanaa," the World Health Organization (WHO) tweeted.

"Thanks to the UN medical airbridge, the patients received treatment in Jordan for different chronic conditions for which they could not be treated inside Yemen," WHO said, without specifying how many had returned.

Meanwhile, Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported the return of 19 patients.

In February, a total of 31 civilian patients in dire need of treatment were airlifted from Sanaa to Amman through a UN medical air bridge.

Yemen's airspace has been controlled by the Saudi-led coalition since its intervention in the Yemeni conflict in March 2015 to support the internationally-recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

Yemen has been mired in civil war since late 2014, when the Iran-backed Houthi militia seized control of several northern provinces and forced the government of Hadi out of Sanaa.

The United Nations is trying to end the conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people and pushed the country to the brink of famine.