Four people were killed and a dozen others injured in an explosion at the office of governor of Yemen's southern city of Aden on Thursday.
Local officials suspected Houthi sleeper cells had attacked the temporary office with a mortar while governor Nayef Al-Bakri was inside it.
He was not hurt and the victims were soldiers including some of his bodyguards and local officials, they elaborated.
The authorities have tightened security measures across the city amid fears of bombings and other terror acts by Houthi sleeper cells after the government forces drove the Houthi militants out of the city.
The Saudi-led coalition provided direct support including airstrikes, ground troops and heavy weapons during the battles to retake Aden.
Today, the battles between the government forces and the Houthi militants continued in several cities including those which were lately retaken from the militants.
In Taiz, local sources said the militants have been shelling populated areas for two days in an attempt to retake it.
The shelling comes from areas on the outskirts coinciding with battles in some midtown districts, the sources said, adding that more Houthi reinforcements are arriving into the city.
Yemen is facing a humanitarian catastrophe due to the several-months armed conflict which was sparked by the ouster of the government by the Houthi militants and a blockade on all sea, land and air routes. The blockade was part of the Saudi-led military intervention launched against the Houthis in late March.
In a press release today, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director Ertharin Cousin warned that millions will face famine mostly women and children already hungry in this war-torn country.
The lack of immediate and unhindered access to people who urgently need food assistance and the shortage of funding are deepening the suffering of these people, it said.
WFP estimates that the number of food insecure people in Yemen is now close to 13 million, including 6 million who are severely food insecure and in urgent need of external assistance – that is one in five of the country’s population.
“Right now, the conflict-driven convergence between the lack of staple food, access to clean water, and a diminished fuel supply create the dawn of a perfect storm for the most vulnerable Yemeni people,” said Cousin.
“The disruption in the commercial food sector creates significant reductions in imports which causes an inflationary effect on market prices for food and other basic commodities. As a result, we are starting to see a double effect of the conflict as even the people who could previously afford to meet their food needs are today unable to buy food.”
Cousin has recently toured the cities of Sana’a, Amran and Aden where she met with displaced families taking refuge in school buildings, mothers and their young malnourished children at health centres and hospitals as well as families at food distribution sites.
More than 1.2 million children are suffering from moderate acute malnutrition and over half a million children are severely malnourished, the press release said.
“The damage to Yemen’s next generation may become irreversible if we don’t reach children quickly with the right food at the right time. We must act now before it is too late,” said Cousin.
The recent fighting around major ports will stall the commercial and humanitarian supplies to the country mainly food and fuel. Shortages of fuel are not only impacting the food distribution system of both the humanitarian and the private sector but will have a devastating effect on access to clean water, health, electricity and other basic services.
WFP has reached 3.5 million people with food since the beginning of the conflict but the fighting makes deliveries difficult and dangerous. Many road networks in the hardest hit areas of the country are still not operational, making communities in conflict-areas inaccessible for aid workers.
A recent vulnerability assessment conducted by WFP using mobile phone technology, reaching some of the households in areas inaccessible by teams on the ground, reflected that the deteriorating food security situation is particularly affecting the internally displaced families.
Many families are existing on bread, rice and tea, according to the assessment.
The assessment showed that emergency food security conditions currently prevail in conflict-affected governorates while warning that "this phase is one step away from famine levels".
Food security is most severe for the country’s 1.3 million internally displaced people, it added.
An emergency operation planned to start in September is expected to cost some US$320 million for a period of six months, the press release said.