Senior official denies closure of UN offices

The UN in Yemen has raised the level of security in its buildings in a bid to mitigate any terrorist attacks against it but has not closed any of its offices, a senior UN official told IRIN.

[Read this report in Arabic]

Aboudou Karim Adjibade, acting UN Resident Coordinator, said that while some UN staff had had to relocate while security enhancements were made in their offices, their work continued as usual, contrary to reports by international news agencies saying some UN offices in Yemen had closed.

"It’s a pity that this misinformation was spread but I want to confirm that no UN office has been closed in Yemen. We never abandon any population in dire need of our assistance," Adjibade, who is also the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) representative, told IRIN.

He added that following a series of terrorist attacks in Yemen, a threat analysis of UN offices was conducted and it was decided that security needed to be beefed up.

"What happened in recent days was we increased the level of precautionary measures to mitigate security threats against buildings and UN staff," Adjibade said.

Three terrorist attacks

On 18 March, mortar shells were fired at the US embassy in Sanaa but missed and landed in a nearby girls school. Thirteen girls and five guards were injured in the attack, according to security officials, and the US State Department ordered all non-essential embassy staff and family members to leave the country.

We hear now that there are terrorist groups which are specifically targeting the UN. That was not the case before.

On 6 April, three rockets were fired into a compound in Sanaa housing Westerners working for the state-owned Safer oil company. The Jund Al-Yemen Brigades, an arm of al-Qaeda, said it carried out the attack in which no one was hurt.

On 10 April, a blast shook the headquarters of Canadian oil company Nexen in Sanaa. No one was hurt in the attack.

UN a target for terrorists

In the wake of these incidents, it has emerged that the UN has been singled out as a target for future attacks, according to Adjibade.

“We hear now that there are terrorist groups which are specifically targeting the UN. That was not the case before," he said. "If you go to the websites of terrorist groups, you will see the UN being treated as an enemy of Islam. That has become a new paradigm. We have to cooperate by raising the security alert among us and protecting our buildings," he said.

The UN agencies working in Yemen include United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), World Food Programme (WFP), UN Population Fund (UNFPA), UNICEF, World Health Organisation (WHO), and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

maj/ar/ed