DUBAI, July 8 (Xinhua) -- A United Arab Emirates (UAE) surgical team in Yemen carried out an operation and saved the life of a three-year-old Yemeni girl, UAE state news agency WAM said on Sunday.
The girl, Sumaiya, was at her family home in the At Tuhayat District of Hodeidah when she was hit by a Houthi mortar shell, "suffering serious injuries to the abdomen and intestines," said the report.
According to Sultan Al-Kaabi, head of the UAE surgical team that is currently operating on Yemen's Red Sea coast near Hodeidah, the child suffered wounds from pieces of shrapnel of the mortar shell and was in a serious condition.
During the four-hour-long surgery, all of the shrapnel fragments were removed and her condition had been stabilized, he said. She will be provided with medical treatment until fully recovers.
Sumaiya's father said that he was grateful to the UAE medical team for its prompt response and expertise which had saved his daughter's life.
Following their recent defeat by the coalition forces in the At Tuhayat District, the Houthi militia, which the Saudi-led alliance claims is backed by Iran, launched "an indiscriminate campaign of shelling against the area."
The UAE team will remain on the ground and provide emergency medical treatment in the field hospital on the Red Sea coast when fighting has escalated in recent weeks.
The UAE is part of a Saudi-led Arab military coalition which has been fighting Houthis since March 2015 to support the internationally-recognized government led by President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
