Ships head to Yemeni ports with food, oil
aden — The Arab coalition issued 10 permits for ships heading to Yemeni ports carrying food and oil, according to Saudi state-news channel Al Ekhbariya.
The Saudi-led coalition pointed out the presence of four ships that have waiting to enter the port of Hodeida for 12 days.
The Higher Committee for Relief has revealed that the Houthi militias detained more than 88 aid, commercial and oil vessels, and prevented them from entering the ports of Hodeida and Saleef in western Yemen from May 2015 to December 2018, of which 34 vessels are loaded after being held by the militias for more than 6 months.
Meanwhile, Yemen’s Minister of Information, Muammar Al Iryani, has commended the World Food Programme (WFP)’s reaction to Houthi militia’s manipulation of food aid.
In statement to the Yemeni News Agency, Al Iryani said: “The WFP’s account indicates that Houthi militia is deliberately exacerbating
humanitarian crisis, causing people in its controlled regions to suffer starvation in order to capitalise on their torment to gain politically and militarily.”
The Yemeni minister added, “Houthi militia has intentionally aimed to deprive millions of Yemenis their salaries, livelihood income sources and humanitarian aid to further increase their suffering so that they have no other choice but to go fighting alongside the coup militia.”
Al Iranyni said that the coup militia has created pro-Houthi local organisations, some of which are sectarian-oriented, to receive humanitarian aid, re-direct and distribute them to the coup militia’s and their supporters.
As a result, the minister explained, large quantities of humanitarian aid was used to promote Houthi sectarian agenda, hence prolonging the conflict instead of alleviating the humanitarian crisis.