Yemeni minister: Houthis prevented aid entering Taiz

Yemeni Minister of Local Administration and Chairman of the Higher Committee for Relief Abdul-Raqib Saif Fateh has accused Houthi rebels and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh of banning the entry of 200 relief trucks to the besieged Taiz province in central Yemen.

The coup militia prevented 200 trucks loaded with food and medical aid coming from international relief centres from entering Taiz province

Fateh said.

The minister described the Houthis’ detention of the aid convoy as “terrorist acts outside all humanitarian and international laws”, Yemen’s SABA news agency reported.

He blamed the rebels for “starving the people in the province and contributing to the deterioration of the humanitarian situation.”

Read: UNICEF warns of outbreaks of cholera in Yemen

The UN warned last year that Taiz was on the brink of famine as a result of the fighting, it reiterated its fears early this year.