CAIRO: UN sources said Wednesday that Yemen’s Houthi rebels have banned over 35 UN and international agencies and relief groups from working in the territory under their control, allegations denied by a rebel spokesman.
A ban would make it even harder to respond to what the UN says is the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. A Saudi-led coalition has been at war with the Iran-allied Houthis since 2015 and has severely restricted the import of aid and other vital goods. The war has killed more than 10,000 people, displaced 2 million and helped spawn a cholera epidemic.
The UN sources told The Associated Press that negotiations are underway, without providing further details. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to brief the press.
A leaked document posted on Twitter by the Yemeni Embassy in Washington, operated by the government, showed a list of 35 agencies, including the World Health Organization, the UN children’s agency and Oxfam. The document, purportedly signed by a Houthi-allied deputy health minister, orders officials to “ban them from movement in and to governorates.”
“The organizations listed here work in the health sector and haven’t passed through the Health Ministry to obtain permission for staff, medicine, and medical supplies to move between governorates and towns. They work unilaterally,” the document said.
A spokesman for the Houthi-run Health Ministry denied there was a ban.
“Clearance was necessary even before the war,” Abdel-Hakim Al-Kahlani told The Associated Press. He said the the agencies need permission in order to pass through checkpoints and can easily obtain it from the Health Ministry, which is open 24 hours a day. “There are no restrictions, as far as I know,” he said.
The UN called for $3 billion dollars in its 2018 humanitarian appeal for Yemen, saying 16.4 million people require assistance to ensure adequate access to health care. It is the largest such appeal ever launched for Yemen. Last year, donors covered 70 percent of a $2.34 billion appeal.
Yemeni rebels accused of banning UN agencies, aid groups
Yemeni rebels accused of banning UN agencies, aid groups
Syrian government says it controls prison in Raqqa with Daesh-linked detainees
- Prison holds detainees linked to Daesh, and witnessed clashes in its vicinity between advancing Syrian government forces and Kurdish fighters
Syria’s Interior Ministry said on Friday it had taken over Al-Aktan prison in the city of Raqqa in northeastern Syria, a facility that was formerly under the control of Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The prison has been holding detainees linked to the militant group Daesh, and witnessed clashes in its vicinity this week between advancing Syrian government forces and the SDF.
It was not immediately clear how many Daesh detainees remain in Al-Aktan prison as the US military has started transferring up to 7,000 prisoners linked to the militant Islamist group from Syrian jails to neighboring Iraq. US officials say the detainees are citizens of many countries, including in Europe.
“Specialized teams were formed from the counter-terrorism department and other relevant authorities to take over the tasks of guarding and securing the prison and controlling the security situation inside it,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
Under a sweeping integration deal agreed on Sunday, responsibility for prisons housing Daesh detainees was meant to be transferred to the Syrian government.
The SDF said on Monday it was battling Syrian government forces near Al-Aktan and that the seizure of the prison by the government forces “could have serious security repercussions that threaten stability and pave the way for a return to chaos and terrorism.”
The US transfer of Daesh prisoners follows the rapid collapse of Kurdish-led forces in northeast Syria. Concerns over prison security intensified after the escape on Tuesday of roughly 200 low-level Daesh fighters from Syria’s Shaddadi prison. Syrian government forces later recaptured many of them.
