25 dead in Yemen from Saudi air strikes as ‘civil war’ rages on
At least 25 Yemenis have been killed in a Saudi-led coalition air strike on a market in the latest in a string of deadly bombings in the conflict, now called a civil war as the Iran-backed Houthi control of Sanaa and the Saudi-US coalition force.
“Rescue teams were unable to reach the area for some time for fear of being hit by artillery shelling of the area,” Dr. Abdelilah al-Azzi, told Reuters by telephone.
The Yemen war has killed more than 10,000 people, displaced more than three million and ruined much of the impoverished country’s infrastructure.
Houthis took control of Sanaa in September 2014, overthrowing the government and the Saudi-led coalition was formed in 2015 to fight the Houthis and troops loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh who have fired missiles into neighboring Saudi Arabia.
Michael Fallon claims Saudi Arabia is only ‘defending itself’ when attacking Yemen.
In December, the coalition acknowledged it had made “limited use” of British-made cluster bombs, but said it had stopped using them.
Human rights activists have accused the Saudis of carrying out more than 80 unlawful attacks, some of which used UK-made bombs.
Nearly half of Yemen’s 22 provinces are on the verge of famine, according to the UN World Food Programme.
photo/Gordon Johnson
Yemen has been on the brink of famine and the United Nations has called for assistance. The Muslim extremists are controlling the nation’s flow of goods and impeding any stabilization attempts. In March food, electricity and water were reportedly scarce as the crisis suddenly made global headlines.
An April report stated that “More than two million children are acutely malnourished in Yemen. Aid workers say almost half a million of them are suffering from severe acute malnutrition which is a life-threatening condition.”
“This means 50 children in Yemen will die during today’s conference – and all those deaths could have been prevented,” Antonio Guterres, the UN chief said.
That report also states: “Malnutrition is affecting all vulnerable parts of the Yemeni society, including the disabled and the elderly” and “People are also dying of preventable diseases because health services, which used to provide diagnosis and treatment, have collapsed in most parts.”
