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.



Syria’s New Rulers Name Abu Qasra as Defense Minister

Head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa sits next to Murhaf Abu Qasra, who according to an official source has been appointed as Defense Minister in Syria's interim government, in Damascus, Syria in this handout image released on December 21, 2024. (Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham/Handout via Reuters)
Head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa sits next to Murhaf Abu Qasra, who according to an official source has been appointed as Defense Minister in Syria's interim government, in Damascus, Syria in this handout image released on December 21, 2024. (Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham/Handout via Reuters)
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Syria’s New Rulers Name Abu Qasra as Defense Minister

Head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa sits next to Murhaf Abu Qasra, who according to an official source has been appointed as Defense Minister in Syria's interim government, in Damascus, Syria in this handout image released on December 21, 2024. (Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham/Handout via Reuters)
Head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa sits next to Murhaf Abu Qasra, who according to an official source has been appointed as Defense Minister in Syria's interim government, in Damascus, Syria in this handout image released on December 21, 2024. (Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham/Handout via Reuters)

Syria's new rulers have appointed Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the opposition which toppled Bashar al-Assad, as defense minister in the interim government, an official source said on Saturday.

Abu Qasra, who is also known by the nom de guerre Abu Hassan 600, is a senior figure in the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group which led the campaign that ousted Assad this month. He led numerous military operations during Syria's revolution, the source said according to Reuters.

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa discussed "the form of the military institution in the new Syria" during a meeting with armed factions on Saturday, state news agency SANA reported.

Abu Qasra during the meeting sat next to Sharaa, also known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, photos published by SANA showed.

Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said this week that the defense ministry would be restructured using former opposition factions and officers who defected from Assad's army.

Bashir, who formerly led an HTS-affiliated administration in the northwestern province of Idlib, has said he will lead a three-month transitional government. The new administration has not declared plans for what will happen after that.

Earlier on Saturday, the ruling General Command named Asaad Hassan al-Shibani as foreign minister, SANA said. A source in the new administration told Reuters that this step "comes in response to the aspirations of the Syrian people to establish international relations that bring peace and stability".

Shibani, a 37-year-old graduate of Damascus University, previously led the political department of the opposition’s Idlib government, the General Command said.

Sharaa's group was part of al-Qaeda until he broke ties in 2016. It had been confined to Idlib for years until going on the offensive in late November, sweeping through the cities of western Syria and into Damascus as the army melted away.

Sharaa has met with a number of international envoys this week. He has said his primary focus is on reconstruction and achieving economic development and that he is not interested in engaging in any new conflicts.

Syrian opposition fighters seized control of Damascus on Dec. 8, forcing Assad to flee after more than 13 years of civil war and ending his family's decades-long rule.

Washington designated Sharaa a terrorist in 2013, saying al-Qaeda in Iraq had tasked him with overthrowing Assad's rule in Syria. US officials said on Friday that Washington would remove a $10 million bounty on his head.

The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people, caused one of the biggest refugee crises of modern times and left cities bombed to rubble and the economy hollowed out by global sanctions.