Humanitarian Crisis Deepens in Embattled Yemen City

Humanitarian Crisis Deepens in Embattled Yemen City

Residents of Aden say shortages of food, water and medical supplies are becoming dire

By Maria Abi-Habib in the Wall Street Journal

BEIRUT—Yemeni civilians trapped by battles between Houthi rebels and Saudi-backed fighters in the southern port city of Aden are quickly running out of clean water and food supplies, residents warned on Monday.

With bottled water no longer available, thousands of people were lining up at water pumps, said inhabitants of Yemen’s second-largest city. For most, fleeing the fighting was out of the question because of a fuel shortage.

“Food is in short supply and thousands of children sleep hungry,” Hayat al- Shamiri, a medic and mother of three, said by telephone.

“Where are the international aid organizations? There is no support coming to Yemen. Innocent civilians and children are dying in Aden while the world is watching,” Ms. Shamiri said.

Following a week of negotiations with officials of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Saudi Arabia said it would allow airplanes carrying 48 tons of emergency medical supplies to land in the Yemeni capital San’a by Wednesday, the aid organization said.

Maria Claire Feghali, the Red Cross spokeswoman in Yemen, said negotiations with the Riyadh government were continuing over allowing a boat transporting medical workers from Djibouti to dock in Aden.

Yemen, the region’s poorest country, imports about 90% of its food, and the Saudi-led airstrikes have severely damaged the country’s airports. Naval forces, also led by Riyadh, have shelled Aden and other Yemeni ports for days.

“Sea routes and air routes are closed and this is a country that depends a lot on imports,” Ms. Feghali said by telephone from San’a.

 “The most critical part, the biggest challenge is the medical one. The hospitals are exhausted.”

On the ground, fighting between Iranian-backed Houthi rebels and Saudi-backed southern militias supporting President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi have closed the country’s main roads, further impeding the distribution of emergency aid.

Last week, three Red Cross volunteers were shot dead while trying to rescue wounded civilians in Aden. Ms. Feghali said it was unclear which side was to blame for the deaths.

Saudi Arabia cobbled together a military coalition of 10 countries aimed at reinstalling Mr. Hadi as president after Houthi rebels overran Aden and forced him to flee on March 25. Mr. Hadi is now believed to be in Saudi Arabia.

Although Riyadh accuses the Houthis of being Iranian proxies, the rebels and even U.S. officials say Tehran’s links to the group are limited.

In recent years, the Houthis have received Iranian training and some weapons.

Most of its arms, however, are obtained on Yemen’s thriving black market, Houthi and U.S. officials say.

U.S. officials believe the decision by the Houthis to launch a military offensive in southern Yemen was made independent of Tehran.

—An employee of The Wall Street Journal contributed to this article from San’a.

Poster’s comment: My priority remains to apply the Golden Rule first to those in America as I sort things out as best I can.