Two conjoined one-year-old twin boys who underwent successful surgery to separate them in Jordan earlier this year have finally returned home to Yemen.

The twins Ahmed and Mohamed, who were born at the Al-Sabeen Children’s Hospital in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on 16th December last year (2020), underwent successful separation surgery at the Speciality Hospital in the Jordanian capital Amman in July this year.

The youngsters have now returned home on a United Nations medical flight to the Yemeni capital, as reported by UNICEF in a press statement on Monday, 20th December.

The twins were joined at the abdomen and chest, and the operation to separate them lasted nearly eight hours and involved 25 surgeons and other medical staff. The boys were aged just seven months at the time.

UNICEF supported both their medical evacuation and their separation surgery.

The twins’ father Yasser Albukhaity was quoted by the UN agency as saying: “I can’t express my feelings. There was a feeling of fear at the beginning, but we had great faith in Allah and in the medical team.

“Thank God the surgery was a big success. I want to thank UNICEF, the donors, the Yemeni Health Ministry, and all who provided help in this journey.

“I wish for them [the twins] to be educated like other children, to finish their higher studies, and to be of great benefit for their country in the future.”

The children’s charity covered the expenses associated with the operation thanks to donations from private individuals.

Philippe Duamelle, the fund’s representative to Yemen said: “This is a welcome happy ending story of one family, but millions of children in Yemen continue to suffer in silence.

“Mohamed and Ahmed return to a country where the war has been raging for almost seven years. In Yemen, today more than ever, children need our support to realize their fundamental rights to health, nutrition, education, protection, as well as water, sanitation and hygiene.

“Above all, what is urgently required is peace. But until then, we need to remain mobilized to help the children of Yemen.”

Sanaa is currently occupied by the Houthis, whose Supreme Political Council is only recognised by a few states, namely Iran and Syria.

The Houthis have been accused of numerous human rights violations, including executions, forced evacuations, shelling civilian areas and using child soldiers.

However, they have also been said to provide security in areas neglected by the Yemeni government and to resolve tribal conflicts and arbitrate local disputes.