Yemen: UN to Reduce Food Aid over Lack of Funds

World Food Program trucks carrying food aid in Yemen (Twitter/WFP)
World Food Program trucks carrying food aid in Yemen (Twitter/WFP)
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Yemen: UN to Reduce Food Aid over Lack of Funds

World Food Program trucks carrying food aid in Yemen (Twitter/WFP)
World Food Program trucks carrying food aid in Yemen (Twitter/WFP)

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) announced that it would soon reduce the volume of food aid provided to 11 million Yemenis due to a lack of funding.

Three million Yemenis will receive a reduced food ration starting this month, joining the eight million that the World Food Program (WFP) had previously reduced their aid before.

According to WFP, food aid has been significantly reduced due to funding gaps.

The WFP warned that further cuts in aid are “inevitable if the funding shortfall continues” and that the number of those receiving full food ration will reduce to three million in February and further down to two million in March out of the total 13 million beneficiaries.

The cuts come at the worst times as food security indicators are the highest in years, reaching 53 percent of the population with inadequate food consumption.

Meanwhile, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported an 11 percent increase in malnutrition cases in Marib at the end of last year, noting that the humanitarian situation for internally displaced persons (IDPs) has deteriorated.

The United Nations estimates that 85 percent of displaced families are unable to pay rent regularly as livelihoods opportunities are scarce, and a quarter of those displaced in Marib have no source of income.

Residents fear the threat of eviction, with nine in ten of the settlements built on private land and without occupancy agreements.

Also, Oxfam’s Yemen Country Director Muhsin Siddiquey said that the escalation in the conflict, displacement, and death in Marib is a snapshot of the suffering faced by communities across Yemen.

“Ordinary people who have sought refuge in a place once described as an oasis of calm have become collateral damage in a protracted conflict. The only way out of this is for the warring parties to meet and negotiate a permanent peace settlement.”

Siddiquey warned that Yemen is now facing its fourth wave of COVID-19, and many displaced people lack access to basic facilities such as latrines and clean water.

Nearly eight years from the start of the conflict, only about half of the healthcare facilities are still operating, leaving two out of three Yemenis without access to health services.



Three Arrested Over Tadamon Massacre in Damascus

The suspected location of the Tadamon massacre in Damascus, Syria (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The suspected location of the Tadamon massacre in Damascus, Syria (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Three Arrested Over Tadamon Massacre in Damascus

The suspected location of the Tadamon massacre in Damascus, Syria (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The suspected location of the Tadamon massacre in Damascus, Syria (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Damascus Security Chief Lt. Col. Abdul Rahman Al-Dabbagh announced on Monday the arrest of a key figure involved in the 2013 massacre in the Tadamon district of Damascus, along with two other individuals who participated in the killings.

Al-Dabbagh stated that the suspects confessed to their involvement in a series of atrocities in the area, where more than 500 men and women were executed.

“After monitoring and investigation, we were able to apprehend one of the key criminals responsible for the 12-year-old Tadamon massacre in Damascus,” Al-Dabbagh said, according to the official news agency SANA.

“Following initial interrogations, we identified several other individuals involved in the massacre and arrested two of them,” he added.

Al-Dabbagh further stated that the three detainees confessed to their participation in the atrocities in Tadamon, where more than 500 men and women were executed without trial or charge.

“We are now coordinating with the relevant authorities to locate the sites of these massacres,” confirmed Al-Dabbagh.

“We assure the people of Syria that these criminals will not escape justice, and we will work to bring them before the courts to face a fair trial,” he said.

Al-Dabbagh did not disclose the identities of the three detainees. However, SANA later reported that one of them is named “Monzer Ahmad al-Jazairi” and that he has been referred to the relevant authorities for further investigation.

In a report published on April 27, 2022, The Guardian revealed details of a massacre carried out by Bashar al-Assad’s forces on April 16, 2013 in the Tadamon district.

The attack resulted in the deaths of around 41 people, who were subsequently buried in a mass grave.