Red Cross says two Yemeni staff killed in Sanaa

Gunmen killed two Yemenis working for the International Committee of the Red Cross north of the capital Sanaa on Wednesday, a spokeswoman for the humanitarian organisation said.

"Sadly, two of our staff were brutally killed on their way back from Saada to Sanaa," the ICRC's Yemen spokeswoman Rima Kamal said.

The pair were travelling with two colleagues in two vehicles "clearly" marked with the Red Cross emblem when they were stopped in Amran province by a gunman who opened fire at the vehicles, Kamal told AFP.

"One of our colleagues passed away on the spot while another sustained critical injuries and was transferred to an MSF (Doctors Without Borders) hospital where he passed away shortly after," she said.

The other two were unharmed, she added.

The International Committee for the Red Cross has been carrying out humanitarian relief work in the southern Yemeni city of Aden, which has witnessed fighting for the past few months.

The Committee has continously expressed its concerns over the growing number of casualties in Yemen, as the fighting escalates. 

It announced a temporary suspension of its activities in Aden on August 25, after unidentified gunmen stormed the humanitarian organisation's offices.

The World Health Organisation says the conflict has so far claimed 4,345 lives from March up until August 5. Half of those killed are civilians.