UNITED NATIONS, June 25: The UN special envoy for Yemen has warned that the conflict-torn Middle East nation is “one step” from famine, with 31 million people in need of humanitarian assistance compared with just 7 million two years ago.
Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed told reporters after briefing the UN Security Council behind closed doors that all parties to the conflict are responsible for the dire suffering of the Yemeni people until there is “a true cease-fire.”
The humanitarian crisis in the Arab world’s poorest country has escalated as the conflict has intensified.
Ground fighting and Saudi-led airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Shiite Houthi rebels killed nearly 100 people yesterday.
The fighting in Yemen pits the Houthis and allied troops loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh against southern separatists, local and tribal militias, Sunni Islamic militants and loyalists of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who is now based in Saudi Arabia.
The rebels seized the capital, Sanaa, in September. In March, a Saudi-led and US-backed coalition began launching airstrikes against the rebels and their allies.
The conflict has left 20 million Yemenis without access to safe drinking water and uprooted over one million people from their homes, Ould Cheikh Ahmed said.
A near-blockade of Yemen’s ports has made it very difficult to deliver humanitarian aid. But the International Committee of the Red Cross said a ship carrying 1,000 tons of food and three large generators from Oman had docked in Yemen’s Hodeida port yesterday.
“In view of the economic blockade that affects all the people in Yemen, the arrival of this emergency aid is a welcome development,” said Antoine Grand, who heads the ICRC in Yemen.
“The food and generators will make a difference for tens of thousands of people directly affected by the armed conflict.” (AGENCIES)
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