Date: May 18, 2018 Source: The Daily Star Huge numbers of Yemenis flee Hudaida as clashes near DUBAI / ADEN: Tens of thousands of Yemenis have been fleeing Hudaida as fighting intensifies on frontlines near the Houthi-held western province, Amnesty International said Thursday, warning that “the worst is yet to come” if the war reaches urban areas. Forces backed by an Arab-led military coalition are advancing toward Hudaida port city, long a key target in the 3-year-old war, though local officials told Reuters this week they do not plan to launch an assault on densely populated areas nearby. The United Nations puts the number of displaced along Yemen’s western coast in recent months at some 100,000 people, most of them from Hudaida, the second most populated province, the rights group said. “The human impact of this fresh military offensive on Yemen’s western coastal areas is clear from the distressing stories shared by civilians displaced by the conflict,” Rawya Rageh, senior crisis response adviser at Amnesty International, said in a statement. “It is a glimpse of what potentially lies in store on a wider scale if the fighting encroaches on the densely populated port city of Hudaida.” Hudaida handles the bulk of Yemen’s commercial imports and critically-needed aid supplies. The Western-backed alliance accuses the Houthis of using the port to smuggle Iranian-made weapons, accusations denied by the group and Tehran. The renewed push toward Hudaida is taking place amid increased tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The war in Yemen that has killed more than 10,000 people, displaced 3 million and pushed the impoverished country to the verge of starvation. Civilians from Zabid, Al-Jarahi, Hays and Al-Khoukhah, around 150 kilometers south of Hudaida city, told the rights group that they and many others fled to the southern port city of Aden, where the Yemeni government has a presence. The majority of the displaced said they could only fund the trip by selling their belongings, according to Amnesty. One woman had a miscarriage upon arriving in Aden after what she described as a terrifying and exhausting journey, the group said, adding that the normally six-hour drive now takes three days due to checkpoints, landmines and other hazards. Separately, the University of Aden has condemned the murder of its dean of sciences and her son and granddaughter, who were killed in her apartment in the de facto government capital of Yemen. “The academic community, the city of Aden, and all of Yemen were shocked by the assassination of Dr. Naja Ali Moqbel, the dean of the Faculty of Sciences, and her son Sameh and granddaughter, after a gunman stormed her home,” a statement said Wednesday. Neighbors of Moqbel in the western Inma residential district managed to catch the gunman and the security services arrived soon after, according to the statement. Yemen’s prime minister, Ahmad bin Dagher, condemned the “despicable” killings of Moqbel, her son Sameh and granddaughter Lian, in a statement carried by the state-run Saba news agency. He said President Abed Rabbou Mansour Hadi had issued directives for security agencies to merge under the umbrella of the Interior Ministry to facilitate information sharing. Abdulaziz bin Habtoor, the prime minister of the breakaway Houthi government and the former governor of Aden, also condemned the assassination. Aden has served as the base of Yemen’s internationally recognized government since Houthi rebels overran the capital Sanaa in 2014.