KSrelief: Houthis Hamper Access of 632 Ships, Trucks

KSrelief spokesman Dr. Samer Aljetaily during a news conference in Riyadh on Monday. Asharq Al-Awsat
KSrelief spokesman Dr. Samer Aljetaily during a news conference in Riyadh on Monday. Asharq Al-Awsat
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KSrelief: Houthis Hamper Access of 632 Ships, Trucks

KSrelief spokesman Dr. Samer Aljetaily during a news conference in Riyadh on Monday. Asharq Al-Awsat
KSrelief spokesman Dr. Samer Aljetaily during a news conference in Riyadh on Monday. Asharq Al-Awsat

An official from King Salman Center for Humanitarian Aid and Relief (KSrelief) revealed on Monday that Houthis blocked 65 relief ships at Hodeidah and Saleef ports in addition to 567 relief-loaded trucks in various Yemeni regions between April 2015 and December 2017. 

KSRelief spokesman Dr. Samer Aljetaily said during a news conference in Riyadh that Houthi militias confiscated during the past four months around 363 relief trucks, looted 6,315 relief baskets and traded them in the black market in areas controlled by the insurgents.

He added that KSrelief’s total number of aid projects worldwide stands at 308 with 119 partners at the value of $967m while the total number of projects in Yemen stands at 175, implemented in association with 77 partners at the cost of $821m.

During the past two years, he said, the center provided 7,590 people with relief assistance by air and that 364,000 people from 85 nationalities were evacuated from Yemen.

In the first half of 2017, Houthi militias recruited 568 Yemeni children under the age of 18, and more than 8,000 children since 2015, he said.

The center launched the third phase of its Yemeni children rehabilitation program for those recruited by the Houthis, he stated, adding that the program, which targets 2,000 children, aims to help them integrate into the Yemeni community.

Commenting on cholera updates, Aljetaily declared that no cholera-related deaths were recorded in the past weeks, affirming that several organizations shut down their private clinics in multiple Yemeni provinces in an indicator on the successful efforts to halt the spread of the disease.



Syrian Wildfires Spread Due to Heavy Winds and War Remnants

 A Turkish helicopter drops water on the flames as it helps fight a wildfire near the town of Rabia, in Syria's Latakia countryside, early Monday, July 7, 2025. (AP)
A Turkish helicopter drops water on the flames as it helps fight a wildfire near the town of Rabia, in Syria's Latakia countryside, early Monday, July 7, 2025. (AP)
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Syrian Wildfires Spread Due to Heavy Winds and War Remnants

 A Turkish helicopter drops water on the flames as it helps fight a wildfire near the town of Rabia, in Syria's Latakia countryside, early Monday, July 7, 2025. (AP)
A Turkish helicopter drops water on the flames as it helps fight a wildfire near the town of Rabia, in Syria's Latakia countryside, early Monday, July 7, 2025. (AP)

Syrian firefighters are facing heavy winds, high temperatures and ordnance left behind from the 13-year civil war as they try to extinguish some of country's worst wildfires in years, a government minister said Monday.

The fires, which started last week, have proven difficult to bring under control despite reinforcements from Jordan, Türkiye and Lebanon that came to the war-torn country to help Syrian teams fight the blaze.

Syrian Minister of Emergency and Disaster Management Raed al-Saleh said their main challenges are two locations in the coastal province of Latakia that they have been trying to control for two days.

“We have controlled other locations,” al-Saleh told The Associated Press at the scene.

On the second day of the fire, firefighters managed to get 90% of the wildfires under control but explosions of left-over war ordnance and heavy winds helped spread the fires again, al-Saleh said. He added that 120 teams are fighting the blazes.

On Monday, the Lebanese army said it sent two helicopters to help fight the fires in coordination with Syrian authorities.

Over the weekend, UN teams deployed to the Syrian coast where they are conducting urgent assessments to determine the scale of the damage and to identify the most immediate humanitarian needs.

Summer fires are common in the eastern Mediterranean region, where experts warn that climate change is intensifying conditions that then lead to blazes.

Also, below-average rainfall over the winter left Syrians struggling with water shortages this summer, as the springs and rivers that normally supply much of the population with drinking water have gone dry.