More than 18,000 people cros sed the Gulf of Aden aboard smugglers ' boats between Januar y and May 2008 - double the number for the same period last year, of these more than 400 people have died over the same period.

According to media sources, the army and rebel followers of Al Houthi continue to entrench in valleys and highlands in the Sa'ada governorate . The army is besieging some Houthi strategic positions in the Masa'aba and Al-Sari villages and keeping farmers off their land.Villagers in the vicinity of Houthi positions were told to evacuate their homes. Security checkpoints set up on the highway and other roads leading to Sa'ada city have prevented citizens' entry or exit, also hampering transpor tation of foodstuffs to victims of the violence.

According to the Yemeni Red Crescent (YRC), 7,000 people have left Harf Sufian to the safer Amran governorate due to fighting. Locals are repor ting extensive property damage due to government air strikes.

5 YRC staff members have been arrested or kidnapped by rebels in Bani Ma'ad, and are still being held.

According to local officials, drought has caused the displacement of thousands of people over the past 10 months from mountainous villages in al-Mahwit Governorate, west of Sanaa city.

WFP has ranked Yemen as one of the 30 top countries affected by the food crisis. WFP Yemen faces a funding gap of US$ 28 million to reached beneficiaries - if funding is not received soon then 320,000 will go without adequate aid. This does not include the additional 6% of Yemenis (1.2 million) who have recently fallen below pover ty line due to rising food prices.

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