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09.04.2015 International

Iran sends warships to Gulf of Aden

By GNA
Iran sends warships to Gulf of Aden
09.04.2015 LISTEN


Istanbul/Sana'a, April 9, (dpa/GNA) - Iran said on Wednesday it had sent two warships to the Gulf of Aden, heating up regional tension as an alliance led by rival Saudi Arabia continued its air campaign against Yemeni rebels.

The ships were only intended to protect Iranian commercial shipping from pirates, naval commander Habibollah Sajjari said in remarks published by the official Islamic Republic News Agency.

The move came as local media reported renewed air raids by the Saudi-led coalition on forces linked to Yemen's Houthi rebels - who Saudi Arabia says are backed by Iran.

The Saudi-led coalition is enforcing a naval blockade of Yemen to prevent supplies reaching the Houthis.

Local newspaper Aden al-Ghad reported airstrikes on pro-Houthi forces in Aden, the southern Yemeni city at the centre of current fighting, as well as neighbouring Lahj and Abyan provinces.

Sources in the city - the last refuge of President Abd Rabu Mansour Hadi before he fled to Saudi Arabia in late March - reported fierce fighting as army units allied to the Houthis tried to advance on areas held by pro-Hadi militias.

Residential buildings in militia-held areas were coming under shellfire from army positions, they said.

Red Cross regional head of operations Robert Mardini wrote on Twitter that Aden was "devastated by three weeks of non-stop fighting" pitting the Houthis and allies, who control Sana'a, against Hadi loyalists.

Army units linked to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh have played a key role in Houthi advances in the formerly independent south.

The Houthis and Saleh have their support bases in the north, while Hadi is from the south, where local separatists and tribal fighters have joined forces with pro-Hadi militias.

The Yemeni branch of al-Qaeda offered a bounty for rebel leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi and Saleh, jihadist monitoring group SITE Intelligence reported.

A video published in the name of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula said the organization would give 20 kilograms of gold to anyone who kills or captures either man, describing them as "the heads of evil in Yemen".

The militants have taken advantage of the conflict to seize control of the city of Mukalla, capital of the country's south-eastern Hadhramaut province.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, on a visit to Pakistan, earlier called for dialogue in Yemen to prevent the jihadists gaining ground.

Aid agencies meanwhile warned that a humanitarian disaster was unfolding, with the conflict worsening existing food and water shortages.

No food has been brought into Yemen since the Saudi-led coalition blocked its sea ports, Britain-based charity Oxfam said.

That threatens catastrophe for a country where, even before the conflict, 10 million people did not have enough to eat and imports provided 80 to 100 per cent of key foodstuffs, Oxfam country director Grant Pritchard told dpa.

"We think that the humanitarian situation is deteriorating by the day and a humanitarian disaster is unfolding," Pritchard said.

"There is a lack of basic services and basic commodities. There are fuel and food shortages as well as (shortages of) medicine supplies," he added.

"Humanitarian actors need access in a safe and secure manner. Fourteen out of 22 govenorates [provinces] are affected by the conflict. We need this conflict to stop immediately," he said.

The warning from Oxfam came as the Red Cross said it had sent a boat carrying medical supplies and a surgical team to Aden.

Attempts to send a cargo plane with 16 tons of urgently needed medical supplies to the rebel-held capital Sana'a were ongoing, Red Cross spokeswoman Sitara Jabeen said.

"There are still logistical issues with the plane - mainly the difficulty of flying into a conflict zone," she told dpa.

The United Nations meanwhile released figures putting the civilian death toll in Yemen at 311, including 74 children, since the Saudi-led campaign began on March 26.

Five hospitals and 15 educational institutions have been targeted over that period, the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

The World Health Organization released a total death toll of 643 between March 19 and April 6.

Meanwhile, the Norwegian Foreign Ministry said in Oslo that a Norwegian national has been in detention in Sana'a for a more than a week.

Norwegian public broadcaster NRK said the man has been in Yemen since 2011, and since 2013 has also worked as an occasional freelance reporter for it and other services.

GNA

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