UN food agency worker killed in south Yemen

A UN food agency staff member has been killed in an attack in Taiz province in southern Yemen, the organisation and the health minister of the internationally recognised government said on July 21, 2023. (Reuters/File)

• Health minister Qasem Buhaibeh had tweeted his condolences to the World Food Programme staffer's family
• A WFP spokesperson later confirmed the death saying: “WFP is deeply saddened that a dedicated staff member was killed in Yemen today by unknown gunmen”

DUBAI: A UN food agency staff member has been killed in an attack in Taiz province in southern Yemen, the organization and the health minister of the internationally recognized government said Friday.
Health minister Qasem Buhaibeh had tweeted his condolences to the World Food Programme staffer’s family, calling for security forces to “arrest the criminals” responsible for the killing.
A WFP spokesperson later confirmed the death to AFP, saying: “WFP is deeply saddened that a dedicated staff member was killed in Yemen today by unknown gunmen.
“We cannot comment further at this time. More information will be shared as appropriate,” the spokesperson added.
Buhaibeh had previously identified the staffer before later removing his name and nationality.
The head of the Yemeni presidential council, Rashad Al-Alimi, meanwhile ordered the pursuit of the “criminal elements involved in carrying out the armed attack that resulted in the death of a UN employee and the wounding of others in the city of Turbah”, according to the Yemeni news agency, Saba Net.
Alimi spoke by phone with Taiz governor Nabil Shamsan who said that the attacker had been identified, according to preliminary intelligence.
Fighting between a Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s internationally recognized government and the Iran-backed Houthi rebels has eased over the past year, although sporadic attacks continue.
Taiz is controlled by the internationally recognized government but is surrounded and blockaded by areas under Houthi control.
In a further sign of easing tensions, Yemeni Airways flew pilgrims direct from Sanaa to Saudi Arabia for last month’s annual Hajj pilgrimage.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed directly and indirectly in more than eight years of fighting in Yemen, resulting in one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
The war has displaced 4.5 million Yemenis internally and pushed more than two-thirds of the population into poverty.
There have also been previous attacks on aid workers throughout the years of the conflict.
In 2018, Lebanese aid worker Hanna Lahoud, who worked for the International Committee of the Red Cross, was killed by unknown assailants in Taiz province.