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Yemen: WFP Says Aid Looted in Houthi-held Area

0 Armed supporters of Houthi movement attend a gathering to collect food supplies for Houthi fighters at the battlefronts, in Sana'a, Yemen, 14 November 2019 - EPA
0 Armed supporters of Houthi movement attend a gathering to collect food supplies for Houthi fighters at the battlefronts, in Sana'a, Yemen, 14 November 2019 - EPA
    Asharq Al-Awsat
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Yemen: WFP Says Aid Looted in Houthi-held Area

0 Armed supporters of Houthi movement attend a gathering to collect food supplies for Houthi fighters at the battlefronts, in Sana'a, Yemen, 14 November 2019 - EPA
0 Armed supporters of Houthi movement attend a gathering to collect food supplies for Houthi fighters at the battlefronts, in Sana'a, Yemen, 14 November 2019 - EPA

The World Food Program said Tuesday that one of its warehouses in Yemen's Houthi-held area had been looted.

The UN food agency described the culprits simply as “militias” and said 127.5 tons of aid were stolen in the northern province of Hajja. A senior aid worker also said Houthi militiamen were behind the looting.

The worker spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal, the Associated Press reported. Millions of Yemenis live just a step away from famine and rely on food aid.

The WFP began a partial suspension of food aid to areas of Yemen controlled by the Houthi rebels last June, amid accusations they were diverting aid from the war-torn country’s hungriest people.

The Houthis denied the accusation and aid deliveries resumed in August.

The WFP provides food assistance to 12 million people every month.

The agency spoke out repeatedly last year about aid diversion at the hands of Houthis and accused them of impeding its operations.

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US Journalist Missing in Syria Since 2012 Is Believed to Be Alive, Says Aid Group

A banner for journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared while reporting in Syria in 2012, hangs outside the National Press Club building in Washington, US, May 2, 2023. (Reuters)
A banner for journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared while reporting in Syria in 2012, hangs outside the National Press Club building in Washington, US, May 2, 2023. (Reuters)
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US Journalist Missing in Syria Since 2012 Is Believed to Be Alive, Says Aid Group

A banner for journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared while reporting in Syria in 2012, hangs outside the National Press Club building in Washington, US, May 2, 2023. (Reuters)
A banner for journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared while reporting in Syria in 2012, hangs outside the National Press Club building in Washington, US, May 2, 2023. (Reuters)

American journalist Austin Tice is believed to be still alive, according to the head of an international aid group.

Nizar Zakka, who runs the Hostage Aid Worldwide organization, said there has never been any proof that Tice, who has been missing since 2012, is dead.

He told reporters in Damascus on Tuesday that Tice was alive in January and being held by the authorities of ousted Bashar al-Assad. He added that US President Joe Biden said in August that Tice was alive.

Zakka said Tice was transferred between security agencies over the past 12 years, including in an area where Iranian-backed fighters were operating.

Asked if it was possible Tice had been taken out of the country, Zakka said Assad most likely kept him in Syria as a potential bargaining chip.

Biden said Dec. 8 that his administration believed Tice was alive and was committed to bringing him home, though he also acknowledged that “we have no direct evidence” of his status.