Yemeni police arrest two suspects in killing of senior WFP official in Taiz

Yemeni police on Saturday arrested two suspects in the killing of a senior World Food Program official the previous day, authorities said.

Ten others were also detained for their alleged involvement in the killing of Moayad Hameidi, who had recently arrived in the country to take the post of the head of the World Food Program in the southwestern province of Taiz.
Taiz police did not provide further details.

On Friday, two gunmen riding on a motorbike shot Hameidi in the town of Turbah. He died shortly after reaching a hospital. The attackers fled the scene.

Hameidi, a Jordanian, was the latest aid worker to be killed in Yemen, which has been embroiled in a civil war since 2014. He had just arrived in Taiz a few days ago to assume his role as head of the WFP office in the province.

“The loss of our colleague is a profound tragedy for our organization and the humanitarian community,” said Richard Ragan, WFP’s director in Yemen. “Any loss of life in humanitarian service is an unacceptable tragedy.”

Yemen has been embroiled in a civil war since 2014, when the Iran-backed Houthi militia swept across much of the north and seized the capital, Sanaa, forcing the internationally recognized government into exile.

Yemen’s conflict has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises and more than 150,000 people, including fighters and civilians, have been killed.

In May 2021, an aid worker with the Oxfam charity died and another wounded when they were caught in crossfire in the country’s south.