Medical flights start from Yemen's Sanaa in diplomatic breakthrough

People wait to board a United Nations plane which will carry them and other patients to Amman, Jordan in the first flight of a medical air bridge from Sanaa airport in Sanaa, Yemen February 3, 2020. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

DUBAI (Reuters) - Flights carrying patients needing urgent medical attention began from the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Monday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said, a long-sought confidence-building measure in diplomatic efforts to end the five-year war.

Fifteen-year-old Abdallah Abed was one of 16 patients to be flown out on the first flight to Amman.