US intelligence confirms Houthis killed Yemenis with corona

Robier al-Fares

A US intelligence report has confirmed the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Yemen, which has reached low levels of health and humanity.

The report considered that Yemen’s health and humanitarian situation, which is the worst in the world, will continue due to the war, accusing the Houthis of being behind the crisis through their control over most urban areas in Yemen.

The report also accused Iran of continuing to support the Houthis with weapons and military advisors in order to put pressure on the Saudi-led coalition and to facilitate the complex and long-term attacks that struck Saudi cities, sites and oil facilities in 2019 and 2020.

“In 2020, the Houthis, backed by Iran, increased the frequency of missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia and made significant gains in areas under their control that were previously under the control of the Yemeni government. The Houthis have also strengthened their control across northwestern Yemen and are currently threatening the city of Ma’rib, the last military and economic stronghold of the Yemeni government in the north,” the report stated.

According to the report, the Houthi militia’s confidence is clearly increasing due to the continued support of Iran, and they are now seeking a negotiated settlement with the Saudi-led coalition that closely reflects the facts on the ground and their military successes. With regard to the humanitarian and health efforts, the report noted that although the Yemeni government has made slight efforts to monitor the spread of the Covid-19 corona virus and provide medical assistance to some governorates, the Yemeni leadership lacks both cohesion and financial resources to implement effective counter measures to deal with the pandemic.

The intelligence report accused the Houthis of underestimating the effects of the virus and covering up the number of real cases of people infected with the virus in the areas under their control. This could predict that Yemen will continue to face health and economic conflicts, which will exacerbate the already severe humanitarian crisis in the next year.