DUBAI: Fighting around Yemen’s port of Mokha has forced some 45,000 people from their homes, a UN official said Wednesday, with many facing continued uncertainty and the threat of further displacement.
Shabia Mantoo, the Yemen spokeswoman for refugee agency UNHCR, told AFP that data compiled by her the agency and the UN Migration Agency (IOM) showed 45,000 people had been displaced in the last few weeks from Mokha and the nearby town of Dhubab.
Fighting has intensified in recent weeks in the southwest of Yemen, where forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi are battling to retake large parts of the country seized by Iran-backed Shiite Houthi rebels.
Loyalist troops took Mokha on February 10 and announced they aimed to push north and take the country’s main Red Sea port of Hodeida next.
Mantoo said many of those fleeing the fighting around Mokha made their way north to Ibb district and to Hodeida province.
“Eight thousand people have been displaced from Mokha and Dhubab to Hodeida alone, many of them with literally nothing but the clothes on their backs,” Mantoo said.
Two major concerns now are how to maintain access to the area and where the displaced will go if the fighting reaches Hodeida.
“The whole country is suffering from multiple displacement,” Mantoo said. “People move from one place to another, because eventually it gets just as bad.”
The UN estimates three million people have been displaced across Yemen.
The Houthi insurgents launched a deadly counter-offensive after losing control of Mokha last month but were overpowered as government troops consolidated their grip on the area, inching a few kilometers north and east.
The Houthis, allied with forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, continue to control most of Yemen’s 450 kilometer (280 mile) Red Sea coast, the capital Sanaa and much of the northern highlands.
The new figure on internally displaced persons marks a sharp rise from UNHCR data released on February 10, which reported 34,000 people displaced in the fighting since January around Mokha and Dhubab, located in the southwestern Taiz governorate.
UN mediation efforts and seven cease-fire accords have failed to end the conflict, which has left more than 7,500 dead and 40,000 people wounded.
UN humanitarian aid chief Stephen O’Brien on Monday warned the impoverished country now also faces a “serious risk of famine.”
Yemen, the only country in the Arabian Peninsula which is signatory to the Refugee Convention, is also home to 278,000 refugees from nearby countries including Somalia and Ethiopia, according to the UNHCR.
As of February 1, the agency had received just over $700,000 of the nearly $100 million needed for its operational response to the crisis this year.
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45,000 Yemenis displaced by battles around Mokha: UN
45,000 Yemenis displaced by battles around Mokha: UN
Kurdish dissident groups say they are preparing to join the fight against Iran
- Kurdish groups are widely seen as the most well-organized segment of the fragmented Iranian opposition and are believed to have thousands of trained fighters
- If the Iranian and Iraqi Kurdish groups were to join the war, it would be the first entry of a significant ground force into the battle
IRBIL, Iraq: Kurdish Iranian dissident groups based in northern Iraq are preparing for a potential cross-border military operation in Iran, and the US has asked Iraqi Kurds to support them, Kurdish officials told The Associated Press.
The Kurdish groups are widely seen as the most well-organized segment of the fragmented Iranian opposition and are believed to have thousands of trained fighters. Their entry into the war could pose a significant challenge to the embattled authorities in Tehran and could also risk pulling Iraq further into the conflict.
Khalil Nadiri an official with the Kurdistan Freedom Party, or PAK, based in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region said Wednesday that some of their forces had moved to areas near the Iranian border in Sulaymaniyah province and were waiting on standby.
He said Kurdish opposition group leaders had been contacted by US officials regarding a potential operation, without giving more details.
Asked about reports that the Trump administration was considering arming Iranian Kurdish groups, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters Wednesday: “None of our objectives are premised on the support or the arming of any particular force. So, what other entities may be doing, we’re aware of, but our objectives aren’t centered on that.”
Before the US and Israel attacked Iran on Saturday, triggering a new war in the Middle East, the PAK had claimed attacks on the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in retaliation for Tehran’s violent crackdown on protests. But an official with the group said it had not sent forces from Iraq into Iran.
If the Iranian and Iraqi Kurdish groups were to join the war, it would be the first entry of a significant ground force into the battle. The Kurdish groups have battle experience from the fight against the Daesh group.
An official with Komala, another of the Kurdish Iranian groups, said Wednesday that their forces are ready to cross the border within a week to 10 days and were “waiting for the grounds to be suitable.” He spoke on condition of anonymity out of security concerns.
Kurds in Iran have a long history of grievances and uprisings against both the current Islamic Republic and the monarchy that preceded it. During the rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Kurds were marginalized and repressed and sometimes rebelled.
After Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, the new theocracy also battled Kurdish insurgents. Iranian forces destroyed Kurdish towns and villages in fighting that killed thousands over several months.
While they share a desire to see the current authorities ousted, the Kurdish groups have also butted heads with other opposition groups — notably the faction led by the former shah’s son, Reza Pahlavi, who has accused the Kurds of being separatists aiming to carve up Iran.
Iraqi Kurds hesitant to join the fray
The potential operation has put leaders of the Iraqi Kurdish region in a delicate position.
Three Iraqi Kurdish officials told the AP that a call took place Sunday night between US President Donald Trump and Masoud Barzani and Bafel Talabani — the heads of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, or KDP, and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, or PUK, the two main Kurdish parties in Iraq — to discuss the situation in Iran.
They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.
One of the officials said Trump had asked the Iraqi Kurds to militarily support the Iranian Kurdish groups in operations in Iran and to open the border to allow the Iranian Kurdish groups to move freely back and forth.
When asked about the call and reports that Trump has sought military support for Iranian Kurdish groups, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “He did speak to Kurdish leaders with respect to our base that we have in northern Iraq” but denied that Trump had agreed to a specific plan.
The Iraqi Kurdish official said the Iraqi Kurds were concerned that getting directly involved in the conflict would draw a harsh Iranian response. Already the Kurdish region has seen a string of drone and missile attacks by Iran and allied Iraqi militias in recent days, targeting US military bases and the US Consulate in Irbil as well as the Kurdish groups’ bases.
While most of the attacks have been intercepted, civilian homes have been damaged, and the region is suffering from electricity cuts after a key gas field halted operations due to security concerns.
In a statement, the PUK confirmed that Talabani had spoken by phone with Trump, who “provided clarification and vision regarding US objectives in the war.” The statement said the PUK “believes that the best solution is a return to the negotiating table.”
Spokespeople for the Kurdish regional government in Iraq and for Barzani declined to comment.
The news site Axios first reported the call between Trump and the Kurdish leaders, and CNN reported that the Trump administration was in discussions with Kurdish groups over providing military support.
Iraq moves to seal the border
The presence of armed Iranian Kurdish groups in northern Iraq has been a point of friction between the central Iraqi government in Baghdad and Tehran.
Iraq in 2023 reached an agreement with Iran to disarm the groups and move them from their bases near the border areas with Iran — where they potentially posed an armed challenge to Tehran — into camps designated by Baghdad.
Their military bases were shut down and their movement within Iraq restricted, but the groups did not give up their weapons.
Iraq’s National Security Adviser Qassim Al-Araji said in a post on X that Ali Bagheri, deputy secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, had requested in a call between them “that Iraq take the necessary measures to prevent any opposition groups from infiltrating the border between the two countries.”
Al-Araji said Iraq is committed to “preventing any groups from infiltrating or crossing the Iranian border or carrying out terrorist acts from Iraqi territory” and noted that security reinforcements had been sent to the border.
In addition to retaliation by Iran, any movement by Iraqi Kurds to join a cross-border attack would likely inflame tensions with Iran-backed Iraqi militias, which have already claimed missile and drone strikes on Irbil in recent days.
The Kurdish groups are widely seen as the most well-organized segment of the fragmented Iranian opposition and are believed to have thousands of trained fighters. Their entry into the war could pose a significant challenge to the embattled authorities in Tehran and could also risk pulling Iraq further into the conflict.
Khalil Nadiri an official with the Kurdistan Freedom Party, or PAK, based in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region said Wednesday that some of their forces had moved to areas near the Iranian border in Sulaymaniyah province and were waiting on standby.
He said Kurdish opposition group leaders had been contacted by US officials regarding a potential operation, without giving more details.
Asked about reports that the Trump administration was considering arming Iranian Kurdish groups, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters Wednesday: “None of our objectives are premised on the support or the arming of any particular force. So, what other entities may be doing, we’re aware of, but our objectives aren’t centered on that.”
Before the US and Israel attacked Iran on Saturday, triggering a new war in the Middle East, the PAK had claimed attacks on the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in retaliation for Tehran’s violent crackdown on protests. But an official with the group said it had not sent forces from Iraq into Iran.
If the Iranian and Iraqi Kurdish groups were to join the war, it would be the first entry of a significant ground force into the battle. The Kurdish groups have battle experience from the fight against the Daesh group.
An official with Komala, another of the Kurdish Iranian groups, said Wednesday that their forces are ready to cross the border within a week to 10 days and were “waiting for the grounds to be suitable.” He spoke on condition of anonymity out of security concerns.
Kurds in Iran have a long history of grievances and uprisings against both the current Islamic Republic and the monarchy that preceded it. During the rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Kurds were marginalized and repressed and sometimes rebelled.
After Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, the new theocracy also battled Kurdish insurgents. Iranian forces destroyed Kurdish towns and villages in fighting that killed thousands over several months.
While they share a desire to see the current authorities ousted, the Kurdish groups have also butted heads with other opposition groups — notably the faction led by the former shah’s son, Reza Pahlavi, who has accused the Kurds of being separatists aiming to carve up Iran.
Iraqi Kurds hesitant to join the fray
The potential operation has put leaders of the Iraqi Kurdish region in a delicate position.
Three Iraqi Kurdish officials told the AP that a call took place Sunday night between US President Donald Trump and Masoud Barzani and Bafel Talabani — the heads of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, or KDP, and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, or PUK, the two main Kurdish parties in Iraq — to discuss the situation in Iran.
They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.
One of the officials said Trump had asked the Iraqi Kurds to militarily support the Iranian Kurdish groups in operations in Iran and to open the border to allow the Iranian Kurdish groups to move freely back and forth.
When asked about the call and reports that Trump has sought military support for Iranian Kurdish groups, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “He did speak to Kurdish leaders with respect to our base that we have in northern Iraq” but denied that Trump had agreed to a specific plan.
The Iraqi Kurdish official said the Iraqi Kurds were concerned that getting directly involved in the conflict would draw a harsh Iranian response. Already the Kurdish region has seen a string of drone and missile attacks by Iran and allied Iraqi militias in recent days, targeting US military bases and the US Consulate in Irbil as well as the Kurdish groups’ bases.
While most of the attacks have been intercepted, civilian homes have been damaged, and the region is suffering from electricity cuts after a key gas field halted operations due to security concerns.
In a statement, the PUK confirmed that Talabani had spoken by phone with Trump, who “provided clarification and vision regarding US objectives in the war.” The statement said the PUK “believes that the best solution is a return to the negotiating table.”
Spokespeople for the Kurdish regional government in Iraq and for Barzani declined to comment.
The news site Axios first reported the call between Trump and the Kurdish leaders, and CNN reported that the Trump administration was in discussions with Kurdish groups over providing military support.
Iraq moves to seal the border
The presence of armed Iranian Kurdish groups in northern Iraq has been a point of friction between the central Iraqi government in Baghdad and Tehran.
Iraq in 2023 reached an agreement with Iran to disarm the groups and move them from their bases near the border areas with Iran — where they potentially posed an armed challenge to Tehran — into camps designated by Baghdad.
Their military bases were shut down and their movement within Iraq restricted, but the groups did not give up their weapons.
Iraq’s National Security Adviser Qassim Al-Araji said in a post on X that Ali Bagheri, deputy secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, had requested in a call between them “that Iraq take the necessary measures to prevent any opposition groups from infiltrating the border between the two countries.”
Al-Araji said Iraq is committed to “preventing any groups from infiltrating or crossing the Iranian border or carrying out terrorist acts from Iraqi territory” and noted that security reinforcements had been sent to the border.
In addition to retaliation by Iran, any movement by Iraqi Kurds to join a cross-border attack would likely inflame tensions with Iran-backed Iraqi militias, which have already claimed missile and drone strikes on Irbil in recent days.
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