US Military strikes in Yemen and sanctions targeting the Iran-backed militia have compounded a humanitarian crisis in the poorest country in the Middle East, officials say, according to a New York Times report published Wednesday.
Investigating the impact of the US and Israel attacks targeting Houthi rebels military sites, NYT report found that Mohammed Omar Baghwi was working the evening shift on April 17 at Ras Isa port in Yemen’s northwestern Hudaydah Province when the American military began bombing, killing him and at least 74 people, “making it one of the deadliest attacks by the United States on Yemen”, according to NYT report.
As a manager, Mr. Baghwi, 45, was responsible for a department that filled cooking gas cylinders. His brother, Hassan, told NYT that “Mohammed and his companions had done nothing wrong. They were simply doing their job to earn a living for themselves and their families under extremely difficult living conditions.”
U.S. Central Command said it had attacked the port to “degrade the economic source of power” of the Iran-backed Houthi militant group based in northern Yemen that controls most of the country. But Mr. Baghwi’s family said he had been just a civilian trying to make ends meet.
NYT report added “The American and Israeli governments say the strikes were focused on Houthi leaders and assets, but they have also killed many civilians, destroyed vital infrastructure and deepened uncertainty in the poorest country in the Middle East.
Before President Trump announced this month that the United States had reached a cease-fire with the militia, the Trump administration had said its main goal was to restore navigation in the Red Sea. When he announced the cease-fire, Mr. Trump said the Houthis had “capitulated.”
Analysts say the strikes will only add to the misery for Yemeni civilians, the vast majority of whom live in Houthi-controlled territory and had already experienced years of war before the U.S. and Israeli attacks.
But despite the months of strikes, some analysts and officials, according to NYT report, have questioned whether the U.S. and Israeli efforts have degraded the Houthis’ military capability. The Trump administration has launched more than 1,000 strikes costing billions of dollars and have destroyed Houthi weapons and equipment. But U.S. intelligence agencies have said the group could easily reconstitute.
“The strikes have already triggered a fuel crisis, which will drive up the cost of basic goods and services in a country where most of the population are struggling to afford food,” said Nadwa al-Dawsari, an analyst focused on Yemen at the Middle East Institute in Washington.
“Even if their operations slow temporarily, they’ll regroup, rebuild and return stronger,” she added.
Civilians and aid workers say the bombing campaigns have compounded an already dire humanitarian situation.
Even residents in southern areas of the country that are run by the internationally recognized Yemeni government say they were being affected, even if they are not in an area that has been regularly bombed.