Aden Introduces New Security Measures to Confront Threats, Terrorism

The governor of Aden chairs a security meeting on Sunday. (Saba)
The governor of Aden chairs a security meeting on Sunday. (Saba)
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Aden Introduces New Security Measures to Confront Threats, Terrorism

The governor of Aden chairs a security meeting on Sunday. (Saba)
The governor of Aden chairs a security meeting on Sunday. (Saba)

The supreme security committee in Yemen's interim capital Aden held on Sunday an emergency meeting and decided to take measures to confront possible acts of terror and sabotage.

At the meeting, chaired by Aden Governor Ahmed Lamlas, security measures were passed that include establishing an operations room and integrated electronic surveillance network in all districts and committing stores to install security camera systems.

They come amid increasing threats since the new government arrived in the city some two weeks ago. Upon its arrival at Aden International Airport, the war-torn country’s newly formed government was targeted by deadly blasts, but none of the ministers was harmed.

The government accused the Iran-backed Houthi militias of carrying out the attack, which received widespread local and international condemnation.

Sunday’s meeting approved more measures including restrictions on the movement of security patrols, including preventing the deployment of security patrols to parks and prohibiting non-state patrols.

Lamlas urged boosting the security to face acts of sabotage aimed at obstructing the return of foreign diplomatic missions and targeting international organizations.

“It is imperative to stand seriously in front of these acts, tracking down perpetrators, apprehending them and holding them accountable,” he stressed.

The governor also wished newly-appointed Aden police chief Maj. Gen. Mutahar Al-Shuaibi success in fulfilling his duties, and reaffirmed the local authority's full support for the entire security apparatus.

Highlighting the need for security units and police stations to assume their responsibilities, Lamlas called for activating the roles of investigation departments intelligence services in general.

He made a point that the “Aden security apparatus is not to blame for the cowardly terrorist attack that targeted the new government.”

The security committee approved a number of measures to enhance the security situation in the directorates of the interim capital.

It decided on limiting the movement of military personnel and vehicles outside official security tasks, and preventing their presence in parks and public venues.



Palestinians Get Food Aid in Central Gaza, Some for the First Time in Months

Donated flour is distributed to Palestinians at a UNRWA center in the Nuseirat refugee camp, Gaza Strip, Tuesday Dec. 3, 2024. (AP)
Donated flour is distributed to Palestinians at a UNRWA center in the Nuseirat refugee camp, Gaza Strip, Tuesday Dec. 3, 2024. (AP)
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Palestinians Get Food Aid in Central Gaza, Some for the First Time in Months

Donated flour is distributed to Palestinians at a UNRWA center in the Nuseirat refugee camp, Gaza Strip, Tuesday Dec. 3, 2024. (AP)
Donated flour is distributed to Palestinians at a UNRWA center in the Nuseirat refugee camp, Gaza Strip, Tuesday Dec. 3, 2024. (AP)

Palestinians lined up for bags of flour distributed by the UN in central Gaza on Tuesday morning, some of them for the first time in months amid a drop in food aid entering the territory.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, gave out one 25-kilogram flour bag (55 pounds) to each family of 10 at a warehouse in the Nuseirat refugee camp, as well as further south in the city of Khan Younis.

Jalal al-Shaer, among the dozens receiving flour at the Nuseirat warehouse, said the bag would last his family of 12 for only two or three days.

“The situation for us is very difficult,” said another man in line, Hammad Moawad. “There is no flour, there is no food, prices are high ... We eat bread crumbs.” He said his family hadn’t received a flour allotment in five or six months.

COGAT, the Israeli army body in charge of humanitarian affairs, said it facilitated entry of a shipment of 600 tons of flour on Sunday for the World Food Program. Still, the amount of aid Israel has allowed into Gaza since the beginning of October has been at nearly the lowest levels of the 15-month-old war.

UNRWA’s senior emergency officer Louise Wateridge told The Associated Press that the flour bags being distributed Tuesday were not enough.

“People are getting one bag of flour between an entire family and there is no certainty when they’ll receive the next food,” she said.

Wateridge added that UNRWA has been struggling like other humanitarian agencies to provide much needed supplies across the Gaza Strip. The agency this week announced it was stopping delivering aid entering through the main crossing from Israel, Kerem Shalom, because its convoys were being robbed by gangs. UNRWA has blamed Israel in large part for the spread of lawlessness in Gaza.

The International Criminal Court is seeking to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister over accusations of using “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid into Gaza. Israel rejects the allegations and says it has been working hard to improve entry of aid.