Aid agencies stop work in Yemen town after attacks

Twelve aid agencies in the Yemeni town of Al Dhale have stopped work after attacks on their buildings that the United Nations called an “alarming escalation” amid media campaigns against aid organisations. The majority of attacks occurred overnight Saturday. One more occurred on an unoccupied Oxfam office on Tuesday morning, aid agencies said.

Among the agencies hit overnight on Saturday by rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) fired by unknown individuals were Oxfam and the International Rescue Committee (IRC). The attacks on Saturday wounded one person, damaged property and caused 12 organisations to suspend aid programmes in Al Dhale, affecting 217,000 residents, United Nations aid chief Mark Lowcock said on Monday.

Oxfam said their office was hit by two RPGs, but nobody was injured. Tuesday’s attack used an improvised explosive device (IED). IRC said its office and a women’s centre were hit by RPGs on Saturday, injuring one security guard. “Aid workers are not a target. Those who will suffer the most are innocent Yemenis who benefit from IRC’s... work,” IRC said. Yemen has suffered from almost five years of conflict since the Iran-aligned Houthi militants ousted President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government in late 2014.

The southwestern province of Al Dhale lies on the main southto-north road linking the southern port of Aden — controlled by Hadi’s government — to the Houthi-controlled capital, Sanaa. A contested frontline runs across the province. “I urge a thorough investigation, and I express my appreciation to the Government of Yemen for the work they have begun in this regard.

“I also remain gravely concerned by the continuation of media campaigns in parts of Yemen that spread rumours and incitement against aid operations,” Lowcock said. Meanwhile, in the country’s north, the Houthi-run health ministry declared that a bout of fast-spreading swine flu had killed 94 people in October alone.

Thousands of reported cases have overwhelmed health care facilities already crippled by constant violence, said Mohammed Al Mansour, a senior health official, warning the death toll would likely rise.A new outbreak of dengue fever has also swept across the country, killing 68 people, including 16 children under five, so far this month, he added.