Yemen: Houthis Militias Targeting Civilians Raises International Concerns

A United Nations organization issued a statement Saturday expressing the looming danger facing Yemeni civilians as coup militias purposefully target civilians in key port city Mokha in retaliation to an offensive to free the coastal area from insurgency hold.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights has documented cases in which the civilians were prevented from leaving their homes to escape the bombing, as militia sniper launched fire on those who tried to flee the clashes.

A spokesman for the United Nations Office for Human Rights, Rupert Colville, said in a press statement “civilians were trapped during the Mokha fighting, and there are real fears that the situation will repeat itself in Hodeida, where air strikes



are already escalating”.

The new U.N. report revealed that Iran-aligned Houthi militants and loyalists backing the ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh have evidently used civilians as human shields in Mokha west of Taiz – the report condemned these deeds.

In light of the continued fighting and moving the battles to the north of Hodeidah, the U.N. agency wary of a repeat of the targeting of civilians there, and warns of the aggravation of the continuing tragedy since more than two years.

Over 34 thousand civilians have been forcibly displaced by the intense fighting across coastal areas and Taiz enclaves, in the Yemeni Highlands, and adjacent areas such as Hodeidah, Yemen’s fourth largest city.