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Yemen’s rival sides begin largest-yet prisoner swap

The Houthi rebels and the Aden-based government agreed last month to exchange 1,081 prisoners.
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The largest prisoner exchange in the history of Yemen’s long-running civil war began today, the United Nations and aid groups said, a day after the Houthi rebels released two American hostages. 

The International Committee of the Red Cross, which is helping facilitate the transfer of more than 1,000 detainees this week, confirmed on Twitter that five of its planes carrying Yemeni prisoners took off this morning from airports in Abha, Saudi Arabia, and the Yemeni cities of Sanaa and Seiyun. 

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