Houthis plant mines near UN food storages near Hudaydah

CAIRO – 3 March 2019: Chairman of Yemen’s High Relief Committee Abdel-Raqib Fatah on Sunday accused the Houthi militia of planting mines and explosive devices around the United Nations (UN) food storages in the coastal province of Hudaydah

He stressed that planting landmines near humanitarian aid was an unprecedented violation that no other group has ever committed.

He urged the UN and humanitarian agencies to condemn and take serious measures against this criminal act and to put an end to the malicious activates against humanitarian and relief work in Hudaydah and other “occupied” provinces.

“The silence of the international community in the face of the atrocities committed by the Houthis was unacceptable,” Fatah added.

Yesterday, Khalid Al-Yamani, the Yemeni minister of foreign affairs, called on Iran to abide by the principles of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and to stop supporting the Houthi militia.

In his address to the 46th Ministerial Conference of the OIC in Abu Dhabi, Yamani urged the regime in Tehran to refrain from funding or supplying weapons to the group.

“Iran must stop destabilizing the region by supporting armed groups, and respect the principles of international law,” the minister said.

“The Houthis were stalling the implementation of the Stockholm agreement, and refused to withdraw from Hudaydah in order to open a humanitarian corridor,” Yamani added.

This has hindered the work of the United Nations, he stressed, who brokered the agreement between the warring sides in Sweden in December last year.