MOTHER KILLED AS HOUTHIS SHELL CAMP FOR THE DISPLACED
Twelve injured as rebels in hills above Hays rain mortar rounds down on to camp from close range
A woman was killed and 12 people injured when Houthi fighters attacked a displacement camp in Khokhah, a district south of Hodeidah.
The rebels’ shelling on Friday was at close range, “affirming that it was deliberately carried out from Houthi pockets in the mountainous chains surrounding Hays,” a military source said.
Thaer Al Makraee, a civilian who volunteered to help victims of the attack, said the woman was killed as she was having lunch with her children.
“I found her little sons crying over her body,” Mr Al Makraee said. “That was really painful.”
Civilians inside the Berni Jaber Camp fled as the shelling developed, the director of a nearby clinic told The National.
“All the displaced people in the camp, which included many families, have left to go to another displacement area in the east of the city,” Dr Hasan Abu Al Gaith said, adding that eight of the 12 wounded had severe injuries.
A security source said: “Houthi fighters broke into the area. They unexpectedly fired more than five mortars into the camp of displaced people at 1pm, when most of the residents were inside their tents.”
Members of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre, the organisation in charge of the camp, are investigating the attack, along with Yemen’s authorities.
The charity condemned the attack, saying it showed the Houthis’ “blatant disregard for the principles of human rights and international humanitarian law”. They urged the UN to take a firm stance against the rebel violence.
On Wednesday, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said he hoped that the Iranbacked rebels would soon be ready for negotiations.
Yemen peace talks in Geneva last month collapsed after the Houthi delegation refused to attend.
UN special envoy Martin Griffiths said their refusal to take part in the first talks in three years did not signify that the peace process was deadlocked, but a resumption of the offensive by the Arab-backed coalition to retake the port city of Hodeidah suggested otherwise.
“We hope it will end as soon as possible,” Prince Mohammed said. “We don’t need that on our border. But of course we don’t need to have a new Hezbollah in the Arabian Peninsula. This is a red line not only for Saudi Arabia but for the whole world.”
He stressed the need to stop Iranian and Hezbollah proxies in Yemen from controlling the Bab Al Mandeb strait, “through which about 15 per cent of the world trade goes”.
“We will continue to pressure them. We hope they’ll get ready as soon as possible to have negotiations and to have a deal.”
An estimated 10,000 people have been killed in Yemen’s conflict, which has produced what the UN says is the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
“Mistakes happen in all wars,” Prince Mohammed said. “Any war mistakes will happen, painful things will happen. We will try to solve it as soon as possible.”
The UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Dr Anwar Gargash, met Mr Griffiths on Thursday to discuss resuming the peace talks.
Dr Gargash reaffirmed the UAE’s support for Mr Griffiths’s efforts to restore security in Yemen and the need for a solution to the country’s troubled economy.
I found her little sons crying over her body. That was really painful THAER AL MAKRAEE Civilian who volunteered to help victims of the attack