Unicef reveals growing humanitarian cost of Yemen conflict
At least 74 children killed and 100,000 left homes since Saudi-led air air strikes began against Houthi rebels, says UN agency
More than 100,000 people in Yemen have left their homes in search of safety and at least 74 children have been killed since fighting in the country intensified almost two weeks ago, according to the UN children’s agency.
Unicef said the violence had disrupted water supplies in areas of southern Yemen and sewage was overflowing in some areas, raising the risk of disease.
Hospitals with limited supplies were struggling to treat large numbers of wounded people and some medical facilities had come under attack, with at least three health workers, including an ambulance driver, having been killed.
Children were especially vulnerable, said Unicef’s Yemen representative, Julien Harneis.
“They are being killed, maimed and forced to flee their homes, their health threatened and their education interrupted,” Harneis said in a statement, released on Monday in Amman, Jordan.
The agency said at least 74 children had been killed and 44 wounded since 26 March, when a Saudi-led air campaign began against Shia rebels and their allies.
The fighting pits allies of the country’s embattled president, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, against Iran-backed Houthi rebels and their allies, military units loyal to Hadi’s predecessor, Ali Abdullah Saleh.
A Saudi-led coalition, which supports Hadi, has been carrying out air strikes on the Houthis and their allies to halt their advance on Aden, Yemen’s second-largest city.
Fighting intensified in Aden on Monday, with the rebels and their allies making their strongest push yet to seize control of the port city, which has been the main bastion of support for Hadi. The clashes were so intense many bodies were left in the streets.
The fighting raised doubts about the possibility of landing ground forces from the Saudi-led coalition to carve out an enclave to which Hadi, who fled the country two weeks ago, could return.
“Conditions are very dangerous right now,” Unicef’s Dr Gamila Hibatullah was quoted as saying in Aden. “Hospitals are overflowing, and even ambulances have been hijacked.”
Water systems had been repeatedly damaged in three southern systems, including Aden, the agency said, adding that it was providing fuel for pumping water. It said that in other southern areas, there were reports of water accumulating in the streets and sewage overflowing.
Medics in Yemen: ‘We are on lockdown inside the hospital
La crisi umanitaria in Yemen che il conflitto in corso sta seriamente aggravando
Nel corso degli ultimi 30 anni, lo Yemen, il paese più povero del Medio Oriente, ha risentito pesantemente degli effetti di un cronico sottosviluppo e della crisi socio-economica. Oltre il 60% della popolazione yemenita (che ammonta a 25 milioni), e in particolar modo le donne e i bambini, necessita urgentemente di assistenza.
La già precaria situazione umanitaria è andata ulteriormente peggiorando nei 4 anni di instabilità politica in seguito alla rivoluzione del 2011, che portò alle dimissioni dell’allora Presidente Ali Abdullah Saleh. Ben prima che scoppiasse il conflitto il 25 marzo, le Nazioni Unite e le organizzazioni internazionali avevano espresso preoccupazione sull’incombente crisi umanitaria.
almeno 137 le persone rimaste uccise in Yemen e più di …