ABHA: Saudi Arabia A flight carrying Huthi rebel prisoners of war left Saudi Arabia on Saturday bound for Yemen’s rebel-held capital Sanaa, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said.

The flight from the southern Saudi city of Abha took off before 9 am (0600 GMT) carrying 120 former detainees, ICRC public affairs and media adviser Jessica Moussan said.

The flights are part of a large-scale, multi-day exchange that comes as peace talks have raised hopes for an end to Yemen’s eight-year-old war between Iran-backed rebels and a Saudi-led coalition.

Nearly 900 detainees are expected to be released as part of the operation, the ICRC has said.

On Friday, 318 prisoners were transported on four flights between government-controlled Aden and the Huthi-held capital, reuniting with their families ahead of next week’s Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr.

Yemen’s former defence minister as well as the brother of the ex-president were among those freed.

On Saturday, at least three buses took the prisoners to the airport in Abha, which has previously come under attack from Huthi drones and missiles.

Wheelchairs were positioned near the buses to take some of the prisoners to the plane.

It was the first of three flights planned for Saturday between Saudi Arabia and Yemen, according to the ICRC.

Sixteen Saudis and three Sudanese were expected to be transferred from Sanaa to Riyadh on Saturday, Majid Fadail, spokesman for the government delegation negotiating the exchange, said on Friday.

In addition, 100 Huthis were due to be flown on three flights to Sanaa from Mokha on the Red Sea coast, a town held by the coalition-backed government.The prisoner exchange is a confidence-building measure coinciding with an intense diplomatic push to end Yemen’s war, which has left hundreds of thousands dead from the violence as well as knock-on effects like food insecurity and lack of access to health care.