Houthi militias are blocking humanitarian aid from entering areas in Yemen, the Saudi-led coalition spokesperson said Monday.
Brig. Gen. Ahmad Al-Assiri, a consultant at the office of the defense minister, said the UN appeal for a military pause to allow urgent humanitarian aid deliveries should be directed to the Houthi militias, who are killing civilians, and not the Saudi-led coalition. The Yemeni people are expected to regain their normal life very soon with the coalition achieving its goal against the Houthis and their allies, he said.
“So far so good. The coalition continued to target the Yemeni militias and their supporters,” he said.
He said the Houthis have been fleeing the coalition’s onslaught through the wadis and mountains and that this makes them more visible and prone to the air attacks of the coalition, which prevented them from reaching Aden. He added that the Houthis and the allies of the former President Ali Abdullah Saleh were resorting to unethical tactics to pursue their sinister ends even at the cost of numerous human lives.
“The coalition also targeted the rebels’ ammunition storage, warehouses and armored vehicles to decimate their capability to resist the coalition,” said Al-Assiri.
“They even sacrifice the lives of ordinary citizens if it suits their inimical ends in support of the former president,” Al-Assiri said.
He said that the attacks won’t stop unless the Houthis, who make life difficult for ordinary Yemenis, surrender to the legitimate government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi or the leaders of the armed forces.
He added that the rebels have nowhere to go since the Saudi border with Yemen is fully secured by the 10-nation coalition.
Houthis blocking aid for citizens
Updated 30 April 2015