Houthis are worsening Yemenis’ misery

At least 1,000 Yemeni pilgrims are stranded in Saudi Arabia after the Houthis seized Yemenia Airways flights that would carry them from the Kingdom to Houthi-held Sanaa, the Yemeni government said on Saturday.

Last week, the Houthis seized three Yemenia aircraft at Sanaa airport and prevented them from returning to Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah airport to carry Yemeni pilgrims home, causing the Yemeni government to accuse the Houthis of “hijacking” the planes and worsening Yemenis’ misery.

The Houthi Ministry of Transportation admitted on Thursday that the planes were seized, and vowed to take control of Yemenia Airways, reschedule flights from Yemeni airports, including those controlled by the Yemeni government, and repair planes at Sanaa Airport, accusing the Yemeni government of plundering the company’s revenues.

The internationally recognized Presidential Leadership Council on Friday formed a government committee chaired by the prime minister to deal with the Houthis’ takeover of Yemenia flights and the militia’s freeze of more than $100 million of the company’s assets in Sanaa banks.

Over the past eight months, the Houthis have sunk two ships and seized one commercial ship in the Red Sea, and directed hundreds of ballistic missiles, drones, and drone boats at ships in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Indian Ocean, and, most recently, the Mediterranean.