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Coalition: Houthis Target of Mokha Port in Yemen Threatens Cholera Aid Flow | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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A Houthi militia media officer checks a camera next to giant cranes, damaged by Saudi-led air strikes, at a container terminal at the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, Yemen November 16, 2016.(Reuters)


Coalition: Houthis Target of Mokha Port in Yemen Threatens Cholera Aid Flow

by | Jul 30, 2017 | Middle East |

Coalition: Houthis Target of Mokha Port in Yemen Threatens Cholera Aid Flow

Riyadh– Houthi militias used a remote-controlled bombed boat to attack al-Mokha port on the west coast of Yemen on Saturday, without causing casualties.

The boat collided with a naval pier near a group of ships, causing an explosion, according to a statement issued by Command of Saudi-led Coalition for the Support of Legitimacy.

The command stressed that Houthi and ousted Saleh militias continue to violate all international norms and resolutions by targeting Yemeni ports’ security and threatening international navigation and regional and global security.

“Adding that these criminal practices impede the arrival of relief and humanitarian assistance and medications for cholera treatment for Yemeni territory,” added the statement as reported by Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

The statement reiterated its request for international community to pressure Houthi militias and forces loyal to ousted Saleh to implement UN Security Council resolution 2216 to prevent such criminal practices.

Earlier in mid-June, Houthi militias also targeted a UAE ship as it was leaving the Mokha port. One crew member was wounded when Houthis fired a missile at the ship.

WAM news agency quoted a statement from the UAE armed forces as saying that the ship came under attack opposite the Yemeni port of al-Mokha. The statement warned that the UAE would pursue those behind the attack.

“The attack did not cause any damage to the ship, while a crew member was hurt,” WAM said.

Several countries denounced the attack on the Emirati ship and reiterated the importance of stopping the terrorist activities of the insurgents in Yemen and everyone supporting and financing them.

In January, legitimacy forces regained control of the strategic Mokha city overlooking the Red Sea and later in February, the Yemeni army announced the full liberation of the city and the port.

The army issued a statement saying that the operation was backed by Arab Alliance. It added that the coup militia fled towards the road leading to the city of Hodeidah, west of Yemen.

Yemeni Ministry of Human Rights condemned the Saleh-Houthi militias’ attack on Mokha seaport.

In a statement issued, the ministry renewed its call on the international community to take an action to implement the UN resolutions especially Resolution 2216 to halt “savage crimes of the militias”.

“These insane criminal attacks against service facilities such as the Mokha seaport want to create chaos, destruction, and death everywhere,” said the ministry’s statement.

The ministry stressed that insurgents aim to stop the ongoing works that improve the seaports’ capacity in receiving humanitarian aid and delivering it to Taiz and large parts of Hodeidah.

The statement concluded that the insurgents are Indifferent to the lives of the citizens who are used as human shields or besieged and left to face death by starvation or diseases.