Yemen rebels accuse Saudi of targeting food warehouses

SaNaa: Yemen’s Houthi rebels accused the government and its Saudi-led allies of deliberately targeting food warehouses in Hodeida as they resumed an offensive on the rebel-held port city after an 11-week pause.

“International food supply warehouses were targeted in Hodeida on Monday, a clear sign that there is a plan by the United States, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and their allies to make warehouses and densely populated neighbourhoods legitimate targets of their terrorist operations,” the head of the rebels’ Supreme Revolutionary Council, Mohammed Ali al-Huthi, said.

There was no immediate confirmation that any aid warehouses had been hit from the World Food Programme or other UN agencies battling the threat of famine hanging over millions of Yemenis.

WFP spokesman Herve Verhoosel declined to comment on the Houthi statement.

The Red Sea port of Hodeida is a vital lifeline for aid shipments to Yemen and the WFP has previously warned that any major fighting could halt food distributions to eight million Yemenis dependent on them for survival.

The rebel leader accused the rest of the international community of not doing enough to stop the coalition resuming its offensive, which it described as “terrorism”.

“International tolerance of terrorism has only encouraged (the coalition) to plan and deliberately commit crimes,” Houthi said.

The coalition announced late on Monday that it was ending the 11-week pause it had observed while UN efforts to convene peace negotiations continued.

Proposed UN-brokered talks in Geneva fell apart earlier this month when rebel delegates failed to show up, charging that they had not received promised guarantees for their return home afterwards.