Houthi Attacks Displace 8,000 Yemenis In 30 Days

A girl holds her sister outside their tent at a camp for people displaced in the northwestern Yemeni city of Saada December 13, 2011. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
A girl holds her sister outside their tent at a camp for people displaced in the northwestern Yemeni city of Saada December 13, 2011. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
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Houthi Attacks Displace 8,000 Yemenis In 30 Days

A girl holds her sister outside their tent at a camp for people displaced in the northwestern Yemeni city of Saada December 13, 2011. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
A girl holds her sister outside their tent at a camp for people displaced in the northwestern Yemeni city of Saada December 13, 2011. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

Escalated Houthi militia attacks have triggered a new wave of displacement of more than 8,000 people in September alone, said the International Organization for Migration (IMO), sending the total of IDPs up to 70,000 people arriving in Marib governorate during 2020.

The increase in IDPs living in Marib has further swelled pressures on basic services, the IMO said in a statement.

Marib is so densely populated that many IDPs have no choice but to take refuge in shelters that are subpar. Many families are left in need of water, sanitation services and food.

In its statement, the IMO said that it had completed the process of handing over water systems to local communities in six IDP camps in Marib, which provided better access to clean water for more than 12,000 displaced people.

IDPs in Marib are facing many challenges, and their needs are on the rise, the IOM statement read.

IOM-provided water, sanitation and hygiene programs in Marib are now accessible through the support provided by the EU, USAID, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, the statement added.

In other news, the Yemeni internationally recognized government denounced the Houthi shelling of civilian neighborhoods in Taiz governorate, which has been cordoned off by militias since 2015.

Information Minister Muammar al-Eryani labeled the heavy-weight attacks waged by the Iran-backed militias against Taiz residents as “criminal.”

He explained that the bombing by the Houthi militia “is targeting residential neighborhoods densely populated with civilians and displaced persons who have begun to return to their homes, and dozens of women and children have been killed and wounded.”

Bombing residential neighborhoods in Taiz, terrorizing civilians, and the siege imposed by the militia on the governorate is part of the Houthi-adopted policy of collective punishment against Yemenis, Eryani explained.

Eryani voiced his surprise towards the international silence over the Houthi committed atrocities in Taiz, and demanded an immediate and effective intervention to bring the attacks and humanitarian violations to a halt.



Damascus, Ankara Agree Natural Gas Deal for Syria

 A drone view shows the power plant in Aleppo, Syria, April 15, 2025. (Reuters)
A drone view shows the power plant in Aleppo, Syria, April 15, 2025. (Reuters)
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Damascus, Ankara Agree Natural Gas Deal for Syria

 A drone view shows the power plant in Aleppo, Syria, April 15, 2025. (Reuters)
A drone view shows the power plant in Aleppo, Syria, April 15, 2025. (Reuters)

Syrian Energy Minister Mohammad al-Bashir said Friday Damascus and Ankara had reached a deal for Türkiye to supply natural gas to the war-torn country via a pipeline in the north.

"I agreed with my Turkish counterpart Alparslan Bayraktar on supplying Syria with six million cubic meters of natural gas a day through the Kilis-Aleppo pipeline," Bashir said in a statement carried by state news agency SANA.

Kilis is near Türkiye’s border with Syria, which is north of the city of Aleppo.

The deal will "contribute to increasing the hours of electricity provision and improve the energy situation in Syria", Bashir added.

Syria's authorities, who toppled Bashar al-Assad in December, are seeking to rebuild the country's infrastructure and economy after almost 14 years of civil war.

The conflict badly damaged Syria's power infrastructure, leading to cuts that can last for more than 20 hours a day.

Bayraktar told the private CNN-Turk broadcaster late Thursday that "we will provide natural gas to Syria from Kilis within the next three months".

"This gas will be used in electricity generation at the natural gas power plant in Aleppo," he said, confirming an expected daily flow of six million cubic meters.

In March, Qatar said it had begun funding gas supplies to Syria from Jordan, in a move aimed at addressing electricity production shortages and improving infrastructure.

That announcement said the initiative was set to generate up to 400 megawatts of electricity daily in the first phase, with production capacity to gradually increase at the Deir Ali station southeast of Damascus.

Both Türkiye and Qatar have close ties with Syria's transitional government, and were the first two countries to reopen their embassies in Damascus after Assad's ouster.

Both have also urged the lifting of sanctions on Syria.

In January, Syria's electricity chief said two power ships were being sent from Türkiye and Qatar to increase supply after the United States eased sanctions, allowing fuel and electricity donations to Syria for six months.

Last month, Britain said it was lifting energy production sector sanctions, a move Damascus said would "directly contribute to improving" Syrians' living conditions.