Houthis Snatch 200 Wheat-loaded Aid Trucks

Houthi militias, backed by Iran, have seized more than 200 food aid convoys en route to Sanaa in Ibb governorate. The humanitarian relief is destined for ailing Yemenis in the Houthi-held capital.

According to government officials, the capture is part of Houthi oppressive strategies for bringing civilians to their knees and solicit total compliance. For Yemenis in Sanaa, this serves a painful blow, especially that the Islamic fasting season, Ramadan, being a few days away.

“Houthi militias have stopped humanitarian relief trucks loaded with wheat from crossing into Sanaa, adding another human rights violation to the terror group’s record of abuses,” government spokesman Rajih Badi told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Badi demanded that the United Nations mobilizes swiftly to intervene and hold the militias accountable to the piling human rights crimes they’ve committed.

It is the international community’s silence that has tacitly made Houthis act under the impression that they will go unpunished, the official stressed.

“This is yet another crime against humanity by Houthi militias, and is aimed at starving the Yemeni people, exploiting the human suffering of Yemenis as a political trump card,” he explained.

Speaking on the Houthis maximum-suffering policy, Badi said: “Whoever does not die by Houthi arms is otherwise starved to death.”

“We hope that the UN will not stand idle on Houthi behavior again…these militias are acting this way because of the UN’s relaxed position on their ongoing crimes,” he remarked.

In parallel, a senior Yemeni official revealed that Houthis have recently implemented a large-scale reassignment and deployment plan for their fighters based in Hodeidah. The move meant the group deploying some of its forces to the Ad Dali’ Governorate, where they carried out military offensives.

With their combat capability slashed almost entirely, Houthi militias sought to hire foreign mercenary fighters to expand their battle scope.

Taking developments into consideration, Houthis are actively working to sabotage an UN-brokered truce deal they signed with the freely-elected government headed by President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi last December.