عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

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
TT
TT

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.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Erdogan: Kurdish Militia in Syria Will Be Buried If They Do Not Lay Down Arms

A Syrian Kurd waves the flag of YPG (People's Protection Units) near Qamishli's airport in northeastern Syria on December 8, 2024, following the fall of the capital Damascus to anti-government fighters. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)
A Syrian Kurd waves the flag of YPG (People's Protection Units) near Qamishli's airport in northeastern Syria on December 8, 2024, following the fall of the capital Damascus to anti-government fighters. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)
TT
TT

Erdogan: Kurdish Militia in Syria Will Be Buried If They Do Not Lay Down Arms

A Syrian Kurd waves the flag of YPG (People's Protection Units) near Qamishli's airport in northeastern Syria on December 8, 2024, following the fall of the capital Damascus to anti-government fighters. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)
A Syrian Kurd waves the flag of YPG (People's Protection Units) near Qamishli's airport in northeastern Syria on December 8, 2024, following the fall of the capital Damascus to anti-government fighters. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Kurdish fighters in Syria will either lay down their weapons or "be buried", amid hostilities between Türkiye-backed Syrian fighters and the militants since the fall of Bashar al-Assad this month.
Following Assad's departure, Ankara has repeatedly insisted that the Kurdish YPG group must disband, asserting that the group has no place in Syria's future. The change in Syria's leadership has left the country's main Kurdish factions on the back foot.
"The separatist murderers will either bid farewell to their weapons, or they will be buried in Syrian lands along with their weapons," Erdogan told lawmakers from his ruling AK Party in parliament.
"We will eradicate the terrorist organization that is trying to weave a wall of blood between us and our Kurdish siblings," he added.
Türkiye views the Kurdish YPG group- the main component of the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) - as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militia, which has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984.
The PKK is designated a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union. Ankara has repeatedly called on its NATO ally Washington and others to stop supporting the YPG.
Earlier, Türkiye's defense ministry said the armed forces had killed 21 YPG-PKK militants in northern Syria and Iraq.
In a Reuters interview last week, SDF commander Mazloum Abdi acknowledged the presence of PKK fighters in Syria for the first time, saying they had helped battle ISIS and would return home if a total ceasefire was agreed with Türkiye, a core demand from Ankara.
He denied any organizational ties with the PKK.
Erdogan also said Türkiye would soon open its consulate in Aleppo, and added Ankara expected an increase in traffic at its borders in the summer of next year, as some of the millions of Syrian migrants it hosts begin returning.