News Links - 29 January 2026

 

29 January 2026

Yemen

  WFP suspends operations in Houthi-controlled Yemen— The World Food Programme announced it is shutting down operations in rebel-held northern Yemen, affecting millions dependent on food assistance. The suspension follows prolonged disputes with Houthi authorities over aid access, beneficiary verification, and operational independence. 

 Ethiopia

Tigray deepening food crisis— Senior US humanitarian officials and Catholic Relief Services conducted field visits to emergency food operations in Tigray on 27 January as conditions deteriorate sharply. Medical Teams International reports global acute malnutrition among children at Hitsats IDP camp has reached 23 percent, exceeding emergency thresholds, while funding cuts leave an estimated 80 percent of Tigray's population requiring emergency assistance with over 1.1 million people displaced. 

Syria/Iraq

Iraq begins dismantling al-Hol camp in Syria— Iraq has started dismantling the al-Hol detention camp in northeastern Syria and repatriating citizens, with approximately 19,000 Iraqis already returned to towns and villages after security screening and rehabilitation. The camp, controlled by US forces and Syrian Democratic Forces, holds about 43,000 individuals from 45 countries, mostly women and children linked to ISIS militants, with returnees undergoing processing at rehabilitation centers in Mosul before reintegration. 

However, the UN announced on 22 January it would take over camp management after Kurdish-led forces withdrew following Syrian government advances, with UNHCR now working with Damascus authorities to restore humanitarian access while the US transfers up to 7,000 suspected ISIS fighters from northeastern Syria prisons to Iraq for prosecution. 

 Sudan 

 

RSF drone strike kills dozens in South Kordofan— Rapid Support Forces conducted drone attacks on Dilling town on 29 January, striking the Sudanese army's 54th Brigade headquarters and central market with multiple casualties reported. The attack came one day after government forces broke a nearly two-year RSF siege of Dilling, gaining control of key supply lines between besieged state capital Kadugli and el-Obeid in North Kordofan, with Sudan Doctors Network calling for urgent humanitarian corridor to deliver food and medicine amid severe shortages of health services and essential supplies.