Air raid on Yemen IDPs camp kills 45

SANAA: An air strike killed dozens of people at a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in northwest Yemen on Monday, aid workers said, as Arab warplanes bombarded rebels around the country.
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said 45 IDPs had been killed and 65 wounded at the Al-Mazrak camp in Hajja province.IOM spokesman Joel Millman told AFP that the organisation had 75 staff on hand assisting the victims.
Earlier, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said 15 dead bodies and 30 wounded were taken to a hospital where it operates near the Al-Mazrak camp.“It was an air strike,” said MSF’s Middle East programme manager Pablo Marco.
The Al-Mazrak camp has since 2009 been housing Yemenis displaced by the conflict between northern Houthi rebels and the central government.Marco said 500 new families had arrived at the camp over the past two days.
A Saudi-led Arab coalition has been pounding rebel positions in Yemen since early Thursday.It has vowed to keep up the raids until the rebels abandon their insurrection against President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, who has fled to Riyadh.
Warplanes carried out a fifth night of air strikes around the capital Sanaa, an AFP correspondent reported.Positions held by the Houthi rebels and soldiers of the renegade Republican Guard overlooking the presidential palace were believed to have been targeted.
A Republican Guard camp in south Sanaa was also hit, witnesses said.In the area around Marib, 140 kilometres (90 miles) east of Sanaa, radar facilities and surface-to-air missile batteries were targeted, local officials said.
The Houthis are backed as well by army units loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who stepped down in 2012 after a year of bloody protests in the deeply tribal country, where al-Qaeda is active.
Officials said on Monday that the ex-strongman’s son had been sacked as ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, which is part of the coalition.Ahmed Ali Saleh was relieved of his duties at the demand of the UAE, according to a Gulf diplomatic official who did not want to be named.
The Houthis and allied renegade military units have overrun much of Yemen and prompted Hadi to flee what had been his last remaining refuge in the main southern city Aden.Meanwhile, rebel forces shelled a town in southern Yemen killing eight civilians, a local government official said.
Two children were among the dead and dozens were wounded after troops loyal to Ali Abdullah Saleh and allied with Houthi rebels shelled neighbourhoods in Daleh using tanks and artillery, the official told AFP.
He accused the rebels of retaliating “after they failed to reach the centre of Daleh”, a town north of the main southern city of Aden, following resistance by residents.In Riyadh, coalition spokesman General Ahmed Assiri said on Saturday that Saudi-led air strikes have destroyed “most” missile capabilities of the Houthi rebels and their allies.
“We believe that we have destroyed most of these capabilities, but we will continue targeting these missiles wherever” they may be, he told reporters in Riyadh.
Before the Houthis seized power in Sanaa in September, the Yemeni army had various “kinds of missiles... ballistic missiles,” which could hit targets as far as 500 kilometres (310 miles) away, he said.
A Gulf diplomatic official said earlier that the three-day-old campaign had been successful so far, destroying targets including 21 Scud missiles.The same source has said Yemen’s army has 300 Scuds.
“Since we started operations we are continuing to target this kind of missile,” Assiri said. “We target their storage.”Witnesses said coalition forces on Saturday targeted an air base in the western province of Hudaydah and two rebel bases in the Houthis´ northern stronghold of Saada.
Ahmed Assiri said the latest strikes were also aimed at halting the rebel advance on Aden.The coalition had imposed a sea blockade and all movements in and out of Yemeni ports would be inspected, he said.
Muhammad Saleh Zaafir adds: Meanwhile, In a bid to find a political settlement of the Yemen crisis, Pakistan is in touch with Iran and other countries to explore peace initiative through establishing contact with major parties concerning the predicament.
The highest placed sources revealed to The News Monday evening that Pakistan was “in touch” with Tehran so that Iran’s position should also be kept in view before taking any tangible step in the desired direction.
Pakistan’s Ambassador to Iran, Noor Muhammad Jadmani is in contact with the authorities concerned in that country while Iran’s envoy to Pakistan, Ali Reza Haghighian has been regularly conveying the Foreign Office here what is the standpoint of his government regarding the developments.
Pakistan also called upon Monday the United Nations, Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) and the world community to play a constructive role in finding a political solution of the crisis. But, it is unlikely that the World Body will be able to play any intrusive role in the imbroglio as Saudi Arabia rushed to the World Body before brewing up the mess.
The imminent Russian veto forced Riyadh to hold back its plan. The OIC seems to be helpless, despite it has its headquarters in Jeddah, due to the sharp division in ranks of the Muslim world.
The civil and military leadership of Pakistan has resolved in its third consecutive huddle on the subject here at the PM house on Monday that Pakistan remains firmly committed to supporting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Saudi Arabia in accordance with the aspirations of the people of Pakistan.
The high echelon meeting where comprehensive review of the obtaining situation was undertaken approved the list of six top officials to dash to Saudi capital today as high-powered delegation. Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Prime Minister’s Adviser on National Security and Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz and Additional Foreign Secretary Qazi Muhammad Khalilullah, Chief of General Staff (CGS) Lieutenant General Ishfaq Nadeem Ahmad, an admiral of Pakistan Navy and an air marshal of the Pakistan Air Force will be part of the delegation.
The delegation will be reaching Riyadh late afternoon today (Tuesday) and go to the Ministry of Defence to have talks with Defence Minister of the Kingdom, Prince Muhammad bin Salman. The members of the delegation will also have some other meetings in Riyadh.
The sources said that the delegation would return on the following day and yet another high-level meeting will take place here to study the findings of the members of the delegation.
The sources hinted that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif could undertake peace mission by visiting some important capitals for finding political solution of the crisis. The decision pertaining to such mission would be taken after the return of the high-powered delegation to Riyadh, the sources said.
Saudi Acting Ambassador to Pakistan, Jassim Muhammad Al-Khaledi who had gone for consultations with his government to Riyadh had also returned to Islamabad and held an important meeting with the top officials of the Foreign Office here on Monday. He briefed them about the current situation.
The picture emerging from within Yemen is extremely grim as the country is divided into three obvious parts and all the three are fighting with one another.The troops of the legitimate government of Mansoor Al-Hadi are retreating while Houthis are advancing and they have captured sizeable area of Yemen.
The third and less known faction in the fighting is of Al-Qaida has also vast area in its control. It is called as Al-Qaida in Arab Peninsula (APAQ). There is no area left in the country where fighting isn’t going on. The capital city Sana’a is in the control of Houthis and Pakistan’s 11 nationals are in the prison of Sana’a where their lives are under serious threat.