The upsurge in clashes between the government and rebel forces in southern Yemen’s Hodeidah province has claimed victims, including civilians, an agency said Thursday. UN humanitarian aid.
Since mid-January, this upsurge has notably resulted in the bombing of residential areas, said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). According to preliminary information, there are more civilian casualties, while houses and farms in the districts of Haïs and Douraïhimi have been damaged. More than 100 families, or at least 700 people, have been displaced.
“The number of civilian casualties in Hodeidah governorate is a source of continuing concern,” OCHA said in a statement. In the last quarter of 2020, “153 civilian casualties were reported in Hodeidah, the highest number reported in any governorate in the country, with continued clashes near residential areas.”
“Indiscriminate attacks on residential areas constitute a violation of international humanitarian law and must stop immediately,” said Auke Lootsma, humanitarian coordinator in Yemen. “The parties must remember that they have a duty to take all necessary measures to protect civilians at all times and allow humanitarian workers to respond to the wounded and displaced.”
The Red Sea port city of Hodeidah has experienced a fragile ceasefire between government forces and the Houthis since they reached an UN-sponsored truce in December 2018 in the Swedish capital Stockholm.
Yemen remains the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, OCHA said. Almost 80% of its population, or more than 24 million people, are in need of humanitarian assistance and protection. Last year, only 56% of the $ 3.38 billion planned for the humanitarian response program in Yemen was received.
