HODEIDAH 24 August 2018: The Iranian-backed Houthi militias bombed the recently-liberated village of Al Ghalifqa in Ad Durayhimi District, Hodeidah Governorate, with an Iranian-made ballistic missile.
The attack, which killed a child and injured dozens of civilians, three of them seriously, is a continuation of their targeting of residential areas inhabited by civilians and their defiance of international laws that criminalise the targeting of civilians and civil establishments during times of war, said Wam.
The Houthi attack, which took place during Eid Al Adha, is also a continuation of their operations against civilians in Yemen’s liberated areas.
Several children who were playing in the village, happy to return to their homes after years of displacement, were victims of the surprise attack.
The Emirates News Agency, WAM, spoke with Yassin Hassan, the elder brother of one of the victims, who narrated tearfully the incident. “We were playing, me and my brother, with two of our friends when the missile landed near us and killed my brother and injured me and my friends. We did not realise what happened until we were in the hospital,” he said.
He added that the Houthis targeted them despite not being involved in the war, and he and his friends only desire to live in peace and enjoy their rights to education, health and security.
A woman from the village also spoke with WAM about the incident. She stressed that the Houthis are continuing their violations against civilians after terrorising and besieging them, as well as randomly bombing them with ballistic missiles, after being defeated and expelled from the area, which led to many injuries and deaths. She added that the dangers posed by the Houthis will not stop them from hoping for a bright future.
The targeting of civilians by the militias confirms Iran’s continuing support and its provision of weapons that are used to attack the Yemeni people, especially children, women and elderly people. This crime is a violation of the international humanitarian law and the Geneva Convention and is a crime against humanity, which requires the international community to pressure the Houthi militias to cease all forms of violations and attacks against civilians.
The targeting of inhabited areas by Houthi militias with ballistic missiles and the destruction of infrastructure shows their hostility towards the Yemenis, who are victims of these crimes and have lost their freedom to achieve the plans of the regional powers.
A recent international report revealed that Iran continues to arm these militias in Yemen with ballistic missiles and aircraft, among other weapons, in defiance of the Security Council Resolution No.2216 that stipulates the prohibition of the provision of weapons to these militias.
On the humanitarian front, the ERC teams rushed to support and provide urgent rescue assistance to the Yemenis in Al Ghalifqa village in Ad Durayhimi district, following a ballistic missile attack on the village by Houthi militias, terrorising children, women and the elderly.
In his statement to WAM, from the terrorist attack site, Saeed Al Kaabi, Director of the UAE Humanitarian Operations in Yemen, said that the ERC immediately resumed distribution of relief aid and food baskets as well as basic goods to the affected Yemeni families.
Al Kaabi highlighted the cooperation of Yemeni volunteers with the ERC teams in the liberated and semi-liberated Yemeni governorates and cities to help families overcome the dire humanitarian conditions.
He noted that the ERC continued the distribution of relief aid and food to the residents of the liberated areas in Ad Durayhimi district and the neighbouring areas.
The ERC dispatched an urgent relief aid convoy to the liberated areas in Ad Durayhimi district in the Hodeidah governorate. It included 17 trucks filled with 12,000 food baskets as well as basic goods benefitting 84,000 Yemenis, including 60,000 children and more than 12,000 women.
Arab Coalition foils Houthi attacks on commercial vessels in Red Sea
RIYADH: The Saudi-led Arab Coalition announced today that it had foiled attacks by explosives-laden speedboats deployed by the Iran-backed Houthi militia against commercial vessels in the Red Sea.
The Coalition affirmed that it had taken necessary measures to protect commercial ships in the Red Sea.