Yemeni Minister of Human Rights Mohammed Askar appealed on Sunday to the United Nations and its Commission on Human Rights to bring in urgent relief aid to the Hujour tribes in the northern Hajjah province.
During a press conference in Cairo, he declared that the Iran-backed Houthi militias’ siege of the area has left 279 people dead and injured.
The ministry recorded 62 civilian murders and the injury of 217 others, including 17 women. A total of 1,769 houses were destroyed and 27 people were forcibly displaced from their village.
“The world will one day wake up and open its eyes to the greatest humanitarian tragedy that is unfolding in Yemen that is reminiscent of the genocide that was committed by the ISIS group against the Yazidis in Iraq,” Askar added.
He called on the UN to exert efforts to force the Houthis to cease their hostile acts and massacres against the Hujour region. It must also pressure them to open safe corridors to allow civilians to exit the region and aid teams to bring in relief, such as food, medicine and drinking water.
The region has been under siege by the Houthis for two months. The militias have effectively cut food and medicine supplies from the area, sparking a real humanitarian tragedy, the minister warned.
Tribal sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the militias committed new violations against the tribes on Sunday, including mass murder, kidnappings and the razing of houses.
The legitimate government also accused the Houthis of committing crimes against humanity against the residents of the Kashar directorate in Hajjah as the militants seized the last pocket of tribal resistance that had withstood their onslaught for some 50 days.
The Saudi-led Arab coalition to restore legitimacy in Yemen had carried out airstrikes against militant positions in Kashar in order to protect civilians. The attacks focused on cutting Houthi supply routes from the Omran region. Over 200 Houthis were killed in the strikes.
The coalition also sent in weapons, supplies, ammunition and food and relief aid to the tribes through aerial landings.
Activists fear that the Houthis would commit genocide in the area in retaliation against the locals, who had stood against the militias since they started expanding their control across northern Yemen in 2011 and 2012.
