Tag: food aid

Saudi Arabia Impounding Aid Ships Bound for Yemen: Report

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Saudi Arabia has prevented 13 ships carrying energy derivatives and food for Yemenis from entering Yemen’s port of Hudaydah for over 40 days amid a humanitarian catastrophe in the Arab country, a report said.

According to Yemen’s Arabic-language al-Masirah television network, 13 ships destined for the impoverished Arab country have been impounded by the kingdom and diverted to the port of Jizan in southwestern Saudi Arabia.

The report added that the vessels had undergone inspection by the United Nations and obtained the relevant papers. So far, only one of the vessels has been allowed to leave the port of Jizan.

Back on November 23, the Yemeni minister of public health and population said it is estimated that every 10 minutes a child under the age of five dies from extreme hunger in the country, warning that the ongoing Saudi-led blockade is also taking a heavy toll on newborn babies.

Saudi Arabia and a number of its allies launched a devastating campaign against Yemen, with the goal of bringing the government of former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power and eliminating the Houthi Ansarullah movement, whose fighters have been helping the Yemeni army significantly in defending the country against invaders since the onset of war.

The US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, estimates that the war has so far claimed more than 100,000 lives.

The Saudi-led war has also taken a heavy toll on Yemen’s infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories. According to the United Nations, more than 24 million people are in dire need of humanitarian aid, including 10 million suffering from extreme levels of hunger.

Source: tasnimnews.com

MarsecNews: For the sake of clarity, this information comes from an Iranian media outlet. Iran backs the Houthi rebels in the country. I know maritime security companies who assist the World Food Programme and they have not reported any difficulties (other than those normally expected in Yemen) in disembarking aid goods at ports such as Hodeidah.

Renewed Clashes in Hodeidah as Peace Talks Continue

Despite a U.N.-backed ceasefire agreement, fighting between Houthi rebels and government forces has resumed on the south side of the port city of Hodeidah, Yemen. Pro-government militia leaders told Xinhua that Houthi units had shelled several neighborhoods, damaging homes and destroying part of a hospital. 

Under the terms of an agreement negotiated in Stockholm last December, Iranian-backed Houthi rebels were to withdraw from the port, and Saudi- and UAE-backed Yemeni government forces were to pull back from their positions surrounding the city. Houthi security units at the port have transferred control to the Yemeni Coast Guard, but the head of the UN mission in Hodeidah, Lt. Gen. Michael Lollesgaard, said last month that considerable work remains to demilitarize the port complex. 

To continue reading, please click here.

Source: maritime-executive.com