Houthis Deprive Locals of Healthcare in Sanaa

Sanaa, EPA
Sanaa, EPA
TT

Houthis Deprive Locals of Healthcare in Sanaa

Sanaa, EPA
Sanaa, EPA

Healthcare sources based in Yemen’s Sanaa, which is overrun by coup militias, revealed that Houthis have deprived locals from primary and secondary healthcare.

Sources added that the Iran-backed Houthi militias loot state assets and employ them to their war effort.

Houthis have marginalized and banished cadres and employees who do not believe in their adopted Khomeinist ideals. Those expelled were replaced by Houthi followers from Saada, a Houthi stronghold.

The replacements were found to be devoted to looting properties of citizens and merchants, unrightfully imposing royalties and taxes and shuttering projects and companies that refuse to donate to the Houthi war effort.

Houthis, according to sources, worked to collapse the health system, staging armed attacks against hospitals, where they seized medical equipment and drugs.

More so, in areas under their control, Houthis prevent the entry of medical supplies and life-saving drugs, especially those used to treat patients with chronic diseases.

Houthi practices have left millions of citizens with no access to basic healthcare, humanitarian relief and food.

The number of health institutions and facilities either affected or totally shuttered by Houthi actions reached 600, sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The sources, speaking under the conditions of anonymity, also accused Houthi leaders of inhibiting the maintenance of medical devices and equipment.
Militia leaders, for their part, considered maintenance not a priority for the stage.

Medical sources indicate that there are 40,000 cancer patients who do not receive adequate medical care in the group's control areas.

At least 50% of the patients are dying as a result of the disruption of the radiation apparatus for oncology, and the lack of medicines due to the group preventing a number of drugs and confiscating most of the aid.

Sources at Al Thawra Modern General Hospital (TMGH) revealed that Houthis have restricted healthcare privileges to its own fighters and loyalists mainly.



WHO: Crew Member Suffered Serious Injury in Yemen Airport Strike

A man walks past a damaged building of Sanaa Airport, one day after Israeli airstrikes hit the airport, in Sanaa, Yemen, December 27, 2024. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
A man walks past a damaged building of Sanaa Airport, one day after Israeli airstrikes hit the airport, in Sanaa, Yemen, December 27, 2024. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
TT

WHO: Crew Member Suffered Serious Injury in Yemen Airport Strike

A man walks past a damaged building of Sanaa Airport, one day after Israeli airstrikes hit the airport, in Sanaa, Yemen, December 27, 2024. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
A man walks past a damaged building of Sanaa Airport, one day after Israeli airstrikes hit the airport, in Sanaa, Yemen, December 27, 2024. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

The UN air crew member hurt in an airstrike on Yemen's main international airport on Thursday suffered serious injuries but is now recovering in hospital, a spokesperson for the World Health Organization said on Friday.

Israel said it struck multiple targets linked to the Iran-aligned Houthi militias in Yemen, including Sanaa International Airport, and Houthi media said at least six people were killed.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was in the airport waiting to depart when the aerial bombardment took place and said that a member of his plane's crew was injured.

The injured man, who worked for the UN Humanitarian Air Service, had to be operated on, the WHO spokesperson said. He appeared to be recovering satisfactorily, the person added.

Tedros, who was in Yemen to negotiate the release of detained UN staff and to assess the humanitarian situation, would continue working in the country until his flight is able to depart, the WHO spokesperson said.

That could be on Friday, but no decision has yet been made, the WHO spokesperson said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview with Channel 14 that Israel was only at the beginning of its campaign against the Houthis. "We are just getting started with them," he said.