Yemeni IDPs face harsh winter

Al Qaeda militants attacked three military vehicles in south Yemen on Friday, killing five soldiers and wounding two. The army patrol cars were targeted in Lawdar, a city in the southern province of Abyan that saw several military raids against suspected al Qaeda militants last year.

Meanwhile in the north of the country, tens of thousands of displaced people in tent camps and residents in ruined homes are hoping to improve their living conditions. The last round of fighting ended almost a year ago, but unrest over the past three months has been on the rise.

“People have not been able to improve their living conditions at all,” says Dorothea Krimitsas, spokesperson for the Middle East at the International Committee of the Red Cross.

“Displaced people – as well as residents – are currently suffering the effects of harsh winter,” she told Vatican Radio.

“This is a situation in the north of Yemen which as been kind of forgotten,” Krimitsas says. “Lots of attention is being focussed on the south […] but the people in the north who are still struggling to survive – especially now that it’s winter – they have been forgotten.”

Listen to Dorothea Krimitsas's full interview with Kelsea Brennan-Wessels: