In Yemen, Sana’a airport closed to humanitarian flights after airstrikes

Published on : 12/21/2021 – 11:32

In the aftermath of airstrikes carried out by the coalition under Saudi command which intervenes militarily in Yemen against the international airport of the capital Sanaa, controlled by the Shiite Houthis movement, humanitarian flights are now interrupted.

Because of the coalition raids targeting the rebels, “the airport is no longer able to receive planes from the United Nations and international humanitarian organizations,” an airport official told AFP who requested anonymity, Tuesday, December 21. He called on the UN to “stop” the raids so that the airport can operate again.

The coalition has intervened in Yemen since 2015 to support government forces against the Houthis, rebels backed by Riyadh’s big rival, Iran. The Houthis captured the capital Sana’a in 2014, unleashing a war that sparked one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. On Monday evening, she claimed to have launched “precise and limited airstrikes targeting legitimate military targets at Sana’a International Airport”.

“The operation was carried out in response to the threat and the use of airport infrastructure to launch cross-border attacks,” she added in a statement, quoted by the official Saudi agency SPA. Coalition forces targeted six targets at the airport, including sites intended to “handle drone bomb attacks” and “train terrorist elements” in these devices, she added.

Towards a worsening of the humanitarian situation?

According to the coalition, these raids are not likely to “affect the operational capacities” of the airport and are “in accordance with international humanitarian law”. While the capital Sana’a, like much of northern Yemen, is under rebel control, Saudi Arabia remains in control of all the airspace of its poor and divided neighbor.

Civilian planes were already banned at Sana’a airport, only humanitarian flights were authorized by the Saudis, 80% of the Yemeni population depending on international aid.

According to the UN, the war in Yemen will have caused the death of 377,000 people by the end of the year 2021, including around 227,000 deaths due to the indirect consequences of the conflict, such as the lack of drinking water, the hunger and disease.

With AFP and Reuters