The campaign, which started early Wednesday morning, involves large-scale coordination between forces loyal to exiled President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and the Saudi-led coalition.
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The Saudi-led alliance began the air strikes in late March as the Shi’ite Muslim militia from Yemen’s north entered Aden, in a civil war that has killed over 4,300 people and left diplomats and air groups appealing for a ceasefire to spare civilians and alleviate a mounting humanitarian disaster.
An Amnesty report said it had investigated eight coalition air strikes in Yemen that killed 141 civilians, including children.
“We’re seeing a huge increase in the amount of children who are being really affected by this crisis”.
Warplanes from a Saudi-led coalition hit the Houthi-controlled Red Sea port of Hodeida on Tuesday, destroying cranes and warehouses in the main entry point for aid supplies to Yemen’s north. “This can not be allowed to continue”, he stressed. Its staff working across the country are responding to the critical needs of children by providing life-saving services including distribution of safe water and treatment of children with malnutrition, as well as diarrhoea, measles and pneumonia. Of course, the Saudis, backed up by their allies but also supported by the Americans, are imposing an embargo on Yemen, preventing food, medicine, and other necessary supplies [from getting delivered] to the civilian population. “I don’t think they have a very accurate report”.
“These are obviously very poor areas with a lot of deprivation and a lot of displacement already”. He said he had given orders to hunt down the assailants, who have not been identified.
“This conflict is a particular tragedy for Yemeni children…”
The High Commissioner for Human Rights has expressed grave concern at the high number of civilian casualties in Yemen, and informed the Human Rights Council at its 29th session in June 2015, that his Office has “received information suggesting that indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks are being used on densely populated areas”. “Every family in Yemen has been affected by this conflict”.
“From the outside, Yemen after five months of armed conflict looks like Syria after five years of conflict, and this is a very worrying signal”.
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Civilian deaths and injuries came under scrutiny in a new report by London-based Amnesty global, which cited a “gruesome and bloody trail of death and destruction” in cities including Taiz and Aden, the southern port recently wrested from the Houthis by forces loyal to President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi. The strikes set off a series of explosions that sent fire and smoke to the air for hours, according to witnesses. One survivor described how shrapnel slashed open his abdomen, causing damage to his internal organs.
