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UN Security Council slammed for 'endorsing siege and mass starvation' of Yemenis

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Resolution passed Tuesday imposes arms embargo on Houthis but not the Saudi Arabia-led military coalition bombing and blockading Yemen

United States President Barack Obama chairs a United Nations Security Council meeting at U.N. Headquarters in New York, N.Y., Sept. 24, 2009. (Photo: Pete Souza/White House/Public Domain)

United States President Barack Obama chairs a United Nations Security Council meeting at U.N. Headquarters in New York, N.Y., Sept. 24, 2009. (Photo: Pete Souza/White House/Public Domain)

by Sarah Lazare, Common Dreams

The United Nations Security Council on Tuesday passed a resolution, drafted largely by the gulf countries leading the war on Yemen, imposing an arms embargo on Houthis but not the Saudi Arabia-led military coalition pummeling and blockading the impoverished country.

Analysts warn that the measure amounts to an endorsement of the siege on Yemen, which is cutting off vital supplies of food and medical aid and unleashing a profound humanitarian crisis.

Independent journalist and former Yemen resident Iona Craig raised the alarm on Twitter:

Sanaa-based reporter Adam Baron echoed this concern.

The UNSC resolution, which is legally binding, was approved by the 15 member council, with 14 voting in favor and Russia abstaining.

The language calls for all member states to “take the necessary measures to prevent the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer” of military equipment and weapons to Houthi forces.

Furthermore, the resolution orders Houthis to immediately cease combat operations and withdraw from territory they have seized.

Russia had lobbied for the language to include text mandating a “humanitarian pause” in the Saudi-led air strikes, which have hit residential areas and civilian infrastructure, including markets, medical facilities, andat least one displaced person’s camp in the country’s north. Since March 26 when the coalition bombings began, at least 364 civilians have been killed and 681 wounded in the country’s conflict, according to the UN’s own estimates.

But instead, the final version of the resolution merely, “Requests the Secretary-General to intensify his efforts in order to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance and evacuation, including the establishment of humanitarian pauses.”

The Saudi-led coalition—which includes the United States, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, and Morocco—has repeatedly blocked aid from getting through to civilian populations in Yemen, leading to public rebuke from aid organizations, including the Red Cross.

Houthis have also used deadly force against civilians, and people across Yemen and the world have charged that the large-scale military campaign, waged by some of the most wealthy and despotic countries in the world, is causing the humanitarian situation to deteriorate exponentially.

Robert Naiman, policy director for Just Foreign Policy, told Common Dreamsthat the UNSC resolution is one-sided. “You would hope the Security Council would take a balanced approach, not just go after the Houthis, who—regardless of what you think of what they’ve done—are clearly an internal party to the conflict,” said Naiman.

Meanwhile, people across Yemen and the world are turning to social media to call for an end to the fighting, as part of the online campaign Kefaya War, which means “Enough War” in Arabic:

Twitter.com/KefayaWar

UN: Majority of Yemen war victims are civilians

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Deputy secretary-general for human rights says both Saudi-led coalition and Houthi rebels to blame for civilian deaths.

(AFP/File)

(AFP/File)

by Al Jazeera

Aid agencies have warned of a growing humanitarian crisis in Yemen as the UN says the majority of people killed in the conflict are civilians, blaming both the Saudi-led coalition and Houthi rebels.

“Over 600 people [have been] killed [in the conflict], but more than half of them are civilians. This is particularly concerning,” Ivan Simonovic, UN’s deputy secretary-general for human rights, told Al Jazeera on Monday.

“So far we can say with confidence that both sides have not exercised sufficient restraint. There were some unselective targeting and we are very concerned about that.”

Simonovic said it was essential not to allow “the acute crisis evolve into a chronic one”.

“There is still a window of opportunity when fighting and killing in Yemen could be stopped,” he said.

Nine Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia launched air strikes on Shia rebels on March 26 after the rebels stormed the presidential palace in the capital Sanaa and put President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi under house arrest, demanding political reforms.

The rebels, known as Houthis, swept into Sanaa in September and have since tried to expand their control across the country. They are fighting army units loyal to Hadi, who fled to Saudi Arabia, and are backed by security forces supporting Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen’s former president.

The coalition is supported by the United States, which has supplied arms and has also carried out drone attacks against al-Qaeda fighters in Yemen.

Overnight on Monday, Yemen’s main southern city of Aden saw the heaviest fighting, with medics and military forces saying at least 30 people were killed in clashes between rebels and supporters of Hadi.

Humanitarian groups have struggled to bring aid into the country and said on Monday the situation in Aden was deteriorating rapidly.

“Shops are closed. We have a problem of food,” said Marie-Elisabeth Ingres, the Yemen representative of Doctors without Borders (MSF).

Metaz al-Maisuri, an activist living in Aden, said basic services had stopped and there had been a “mass exodus” of civilians from the city.

“Schools, universities and all public and private facilities have been shut due” to the violence, he told the AFP news agency. “Residents’ lives have become very difficult and complicated… They can no longer obtain the food they need,” he said.

“We are unable to leave our houses to buy what we need because of the Houthi snipers,” said Adwaa Mubarak, a 48-year-old woman in Aden.

‘Boots on the ground needed’

Afzal Ashraf, a consultant fellow at the London-based Royal United Services Institute, told Al Jazeera that the Saudi-led coalition faced a dilemma over getting their military on the ground as air strikes alone would not achieve the coalition’s aims.

“The situation is very confused not just for us, observers, but also for people on the ground. And it will remain that way until we get ground forces in,” said Ashraf.

“This is the problem that the Saudi-led coalition is facing. They want to avoid ground forces, but they can’t make any meaningful change on the ground using air strikes alone.”

Meanwhile, in the Saudi capital Riyadh, Yemen’s Prime Minister Khaled Bahah was sworn in as vice president at the country’s embassy in front of exiled Hadi, a day after his appointment, in a move welcomed by Yemen’s Gulf neighbours.

Mohammed Abdel Salam, a Houthi spokesman, denounced the appointment of Bahah in televised comments on a pro-Houthi channel. He said that the Houthi group will not recognise decisions promulgated by Hadi and that anything pertaining to the country’s politics should be decided upon through dialogue within the country.

UN special envoy for Yemen Jamal Benomar has been urging the parties to come to a negotiated settlement. Saleh has also called for a UN-sponsored dialogue.

With weapons pouring in and aid locked out, Yemeni civilians 'willfully abandoned'

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Two weeks into a Saudi-led bombardment and siege, hundreds are dead and food, water, and medical supplies are running low

The online campaign Kefaya War ("Enough War" in Arabic) has received an outpouring of support from Yemen and around the world. (Photo courtesy of #KefayaWar)

The online campaign Kefaya War (“Enough War” in Arabic) has received an outpouring of support from Yemen and around the world. (Photo courtesy of #KefayaWar)

by Sarah Lazare, Common Dreams

Two weeks of a Saudi Arabia-led bombardment and siege on the impoverished nation of Yemen has bred a profound humanitarian crisis—marked by hundreds of civilian deaths and worsening food and water shortages.

As the Saudi-led coalition blocks almost all food and medical aid from getting in, while bombing public infrastructure, residents and aid organizations warn that the worst is yet to come.

“So many of my family members are saying that if the war is not going to kill you, it’s the humanitarian crisis that will,” Rooj Alwazir, Yemeni activist currently based in Washington, D.C. and co-founder of Support Yemen Media, told the Shay wa Nana Radio Show, which aired Wednesday.

The war, which is led by Saudi Arabia and now includes the United States, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, and Morocco, is being waged against one of the poorest countries in the world.

The United Nations estimates that 16 million out of 25 million people in Yemen were in need of humanitarian assistance before the fighting began. Yemen relies on imports for 90 percent of staple food items, including 100 percent of rice.

But the Saudi-led coalition has repeatedly blocked international aid from getting through as it lays siege to Yemen, a country the size of France, including a naval blockade. Commercial shipping lines are either scaling back or completely halting all services to the country, Reuters reports.

The aid group Oxfam warned on Wednesday, “Regular imports of food and fuel have not reached Yemen since the escalation in violence began two weeks ago, due to the closure of land, sea and air routes into the country.” As a result, the organization said, food prices have doubled, fuel prices have quadrupled in some areas, and basic goods are running “dangerously low.”

“It’s getting very difficult to find wheat these days and we are not expecting anymore deliveries,” said Abdulrahman, a shop keeper in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, according to the Oxfam statement.

Some areas, meanwhile, are close to completely running out of water. The United Nationswarned on Friday that in the southern city of Aden, heavily targeted by shelling from war planes, “one million people risk being cut off from access to clean drinking water within a matter of days.”

Meanwhile, civilian infrastructure—including markets, schools, medical facilities, power plants, and warehouses—is being targeted in attacks, the UN finds. There are also numerous reports emerging that the coalition is targeting food supply buildings with its bombings.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters on Thursday that civilians in Yemen are being “willfully abandoned.” He charged, “Ordinary Yemeni families are struggling for the very basics—water, food, fuel and medicine. Hundreds of civilians have been killed. Hospitals and schools are shutting down—some of which are direct targets of the fighting.”

And then, of course, there are the people dying beneath the coalition’s bombs. According to the latest situation report from the World Health Organization, since March 19, the conflict has killed at least 643 people and wounded 2,226, with 334,000 internally displaced and 8.4 million estimated to be in immediate need of health care services.

Harrowing reports of civilian deaths are emerging from on the ground in Yemen, including an account by journalist Sharif Abdel Kouddous, published by The Nation magazine on Friday, which told the story of the al-Amari family, many of whom were killed when an air strike hit their home on March 31. “To see your brother, your daughter, your son burning in front of your eyes,” 32-year-old survivor Mohamed Abdu Hameed al-Amari told Kouddous. “It was the blackest day in history.”

“The situation is just getting worse and worse every day,” said Alwazir. “People are afraid, they are living day to day in constant fear they might be next, either by an air strike or getting killed in crossfire between Houthis and popular committees in Aden.”

Even with aid shut out, the United States is expeditingweapons shipments in, helping coordinate the assault, and even refueling Saudi war planes for air strikes.

Voices from Yemen and around the world are denouncing what they say is a proxy war of aggression, waged by wealthy and despotic countries at the expense of the Yemeni people.

“The Yemen war is a variation on an old theme, where despotic regimes in the Middle East call on the United States to do their dirty work,” wrote Adil Shamoo, an associate fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, in a post at Foreign Policy in Focus earlier this week. “The involvement of so many countries in the region in the war in Yemen could result in a wider war with completely unpredictable outcomes, even outside the country’s borders.”

And foreign policy expert Conn Hallinan, a columnist for FPIF, wrote on Friday, “Yemen needs an influx of aid, not bombs, drones, and hellfire missiles.”

Protests from London to Pakistan to Lebanon have called for an immediate end to the bombings and cessation of the war.

And from Yemen to the diaspora, people have taken to social media to send a message of humanity and tell the world they have had “enough” war.

The online campaign “Kefaya War,” which means “Enough War” in Arabic, was founded by independent Yemeni activists, including Rooj Alwazir. It has received messages of solidarity from the Philippines to Mexico to Aden:

https://twitter.com/KefayaWar

Pakistan parliament backs neutrality in Yemen conflict

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Vote indicates country will not join Saudi-led military coalition but will “stand shoulder to shoulder” with kingdom.

Predominantly Sunni Pakistan has placed itself as a peace broker in the Yemen conflict [AP]

Predominantly Sunni Pakistan has placed itself as a peace broker in the Yemen conflict [AP]

by Asad Hashim, Al Jazeera

Lahore: Pakistan’s parliament has unanimously passed a resolution affirming the country’s “neutrality” in the Yemen conflict, in a move that indicates the South Asian country will not be joining a Saudi-led military coalition that is currently fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen.

A joint session of parliament has been debating the issue in the capital Islamabad all week, and unanimously passed the resolution, presented by Ishaq Dar, the finance minister, on Friday afternoon.

The resolution expresses the “desire that Pakistan should maintain neutrality in the Yemen conflict”, while reaffirming Pakistan’s “unequivocal support of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia”.

Members of parliament agreed that Pakistan would “stand shoulder to shoulder” with Saudi Arabia in case of a violation of that country’s territorial integrity, or a threat to Muslim holy sites in Mecca and Medina.

The vote on Friday comes on the heels of frenetic diplomatic activity, with Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iranian foreign minister, in Islamabad for a two-day visit that concluded on Thursday, following Pakistani leader Nawaz Sharif’s meetings in Turkey with that country’s leadership on the issue.

Pakistani leaders have also met senior Saudi officials in Riyadh in the last two weeks, while the country’s military leadership has been in talks with Iran and Egypt.

Peace broker’s role

Pakistan, alongside regional ally Turkey, has placed itself as a peace broker in the conflict, calling on the UN and Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) to take a pro-active role in fostering dialogue to end the conflict.

The parliamentary resolution is not binding on the executive, but the fact that text was proposed by senior cabinet member Dar, who is a member of the ruling PML-N party, and that it was passed unanimously indicate that it is highly unlikely the government would defy it.

The resolution passed on Friday “calls upon the warring factions in Yemen to resolve their differences peacefully through dialogue”.

Members of both houses of parliament had been debating the issue since Monday, when the government convened the joint session to formulate a joint position on the conflict.

On Monday, Khawaja Asif, Pakistani defence minister, revealed that Saudi Arabia had, in meetings with the Pakistani leadership, conveyed a request for fighter jets, ground troops and naval warships to be contributed to Saudi Arabia’s Operation Decisive Storm.

The operation has been under way since March 25, when Saudi Arabia began airstrikes on Houthi rebel positions in Sanaa on the request of Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who the international community recognizes as the legitimate president of the country.

Hadi has been taking refuge in Saudi Arabia since March 27, after Houthi fighters, ascendant in their military campaign against the state since late last year, made advances towards Aden, where he was based since February.

Iran and Turkey back political solution to Yemen crisis

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Iranian president tells his visiting Turkish counterpart ceasefire in Yemen “must be established” and strikes halted.

iran-turkey

by Al Jazeera

Turkey and Iran agree on the need for a political solution to end Yemen’s war, which has raised tensions between them, Iran’s president has said after talks with his visiting Turkish counterpart.

“We talked about Iraq, Syria, Palestine … We had a long discussion about Yemen. We both think war and bloodshed must stop in this area immediately and a complete ceasefire must be established and the strikes must stop” in Yemen, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said during a joint news conference broadcast by state television.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made no remarks about Yemen, where Houthi rebels and their allies – widely believed to be supported by Tehran – are battling forces loyal to embattled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, while a Saudi-led coalition is bombing the rebels’ positions.

Erdogan, however, talked at length about bilateral relations with Iran, which has condemned the strikes. Turkey supports the aerial bombardment, which began on March 26.

Rouhani said he hoped the two countries, “with the help of other countries in the region” would contribute to “peace, stability, a broader government and dialogue” between Yemenis.

“We agree on the fact that instability, insecurity and war must cease throughout the region,” he said.

Erdogan denounced at the end of March what he called Iran’s will for “domination” in Yemen, calling on Tehran to “withdraw all its forces from Yemen, Syria and Iraq”.

Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Iranian foreign minister, reacted by accusing Turkey of causing instability in the Middle East.

Erdogan, a former close ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, supported the uprising in Syria and backed rebels fighting Assad’s government. Iran supports the Syrian government.

Several ministers accompanied Erdogan, who also met Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during his one-day visit.

‘Expensive gas’

Despite the tensions, the neighbouring countries want to strengthen trade to $30bn in 2015.

Erdogan pointed out that the balance of trade was unfavourable to Turkey, since “Iran exports $10bn and imports only $4bn in Turkish products”.

“The gas we buy from Iran is the most expensive. If the price drops we can buy more,” Erdogan said. “That’s what a friendly country is.”

During the visit, eight documents – particularly in the areas of transport, customs, industry and health – were signed.

Al Jazeera’s Bernard Smith, reporting from Istanbul, said that Erdogan focused on trade relations during his visit and asked Iran to bring the natural gas price for Turkey down.

Smith said: “Before Erdogan arrived in Tehran, he had a meeting with the Saudi interior minister. Turkey has suggested it might offer logistical support to Saudis in their campaign in Yemen. But in Tehran, he made no concrete reference to the conflict in Yemen publicly.”

With Scores of Children Among Civilian Dead in Yemen, US Sending More Weapons

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Red Cross describes situation in war-torn nation as ‘catastrophic’ with violence on ‘every street and every corner’

International aid groups estimate that more than 75 Yemeni children have been killed since the start of Operation Decisive Storm on March 26. (Photo: UNICEF)

International aid groups estimate that more than 75 Yemeni children have been killed since the start of Operation Decisive Storm on March 26. (Photo: UNICEF)

by Lauren McCauley, Common Dreams

Amid warnings that the Saudi-led attack on Yemen is taking a devastating toll on civilians, including more than 75 children killed since fighting began, the United States announced on Tuesday that it will be expediting the shipment of more weapons to fuel the conflict.

Speaking to reporters in Riyadh after meeting with Gulf Arab allies and Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken said the United States is increasing its support, through more arms and intelligence-sharing, of Operation Decisive Storm.

International aid groups warn that the operation, which is being led by the Saudi Arabia military with backing from Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Sudan, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain, as well as the U.S. Pentagon, has had a devastating impact on the nation’s infrastructure and civilian population.

In a statement on Monday, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that at least 74 children have been killed and 44 maimed since fighting began on March 26, while countless others have been injured, displaced and put at risk from disease.

“Children are paying an intolerable price for this conflict,” said UNICEF Yemen Representative Julien Harneis speaking from the Jordanian capital Amman. “They are being killed, maimed and forced to flee their homes, their health threatened and their education interrupted. These children should be immediately afforded special respect and protection by all parties to the conflict, in line with international humanitarian law.”

UNICEF added that the estimated number of child deaths is “conservative” and is likely higher due to the intensifying conflict.

On Tuesday, a Saudi-led airstrike targeting a Houthi-controlled military base in the central Yemen province of Ibb crippled a nearby school, killing a 10- and 12-year-old while injuring dozens of other students, local residents told Xinhua News.

Meanwhile, fierce fighting between the coalition and rebels has spilled into the streets of the Aden peninsula in the south, a situation the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) described as “catastrophic.”

Marie Claire Feghali, spokesperson for ICRC Yemen, said that the humanitarian situation in all of Yemen is “very difficult…(with) naval, air and ground routes cut off.” Feghali described the situation in Aden as “catastrophic to say the least.”

“The war in Aden is on every street, in every corner… Many are unable to escape,” she said.

And Doctors Without Borders (MSF) Yemen representative Marie-Elisabeth Ingres said that hospitals in Aden in recent days have received fewer casualties, “not because there are no wounded people, but due to the difficulties faced in trying to reach a hospital.”

Pakistan debates military involvement in Yemen

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Parliament discusses request by Riyadh for fighter jets as Saudi-led coalition continues to bomb Houthi positions.

Rival Pakistani rallies have been held for and against the Saudi-led campaign on Yemen [Reuters]

Rival Pakistani rallies have been held for and against the Saudi-led campaign on Yemen [Reuters]

by Asad Hashim, Al Jazeera

Islamabad: Saudi Arabia has asked for Pakistani fighter jets, ground troops and naval warships to join its campaign against Houthi rebels in Yemen, Pakistan’s defence minister has said.

Khwaja Asif was addressing a joint session of the Pakistani parliament, which met in Islamabad on Monday to begin a debate on whether to join the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen, where air strikes against Houthi rebels have been ongoing since March 25.

Pakistan has regularly voiced support for the Saudi mission, but has so far not committed to taking material part in the air strikes against the Houthis, who are said to be backed by one of Pakistan’s neighbours, Iran.

Saudi officials and state media, however, have been citing Pakistan as one of 10 countries that are actively engaged in the military campaign in Yemen.

Asif said that while no decision had yet been taken on joining the military coalition, “any violation of Saudi Arabia’s territorial integrity would elicit a strong response from Pakistan”, echoing the position publicly stated by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif repeatedly in the last week.

Terming the Houthi rebels “non-state actors”, who had overthrown the “legitimate” Yemeni government, led by President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, Asif stressed that Pakistan, along with regional ally Turkey, was calling for a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

“The situation is grave and might endanger the safety and security of the whole region,” Asif said.

In the last week, more than 980 Pakistanis have been evacuated from Yemen by the Pakistani government, which has sent commercial aircraft and naval ships to aid in this effort, in conjunction with Saudi military authorities. The country is host to approximately 3,000 Pakistanis.

‘Give peace a chance’

Asif, along with Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and several high-ranking military personnel, visited Saudi Arabia on March 31 to discuss the situation in Yemen.

While there, he told parliament, the Pakistani delegation assured Saudi officials that Pakistan would protect Saudi territory if need be, but that it was pursuing the path of dialogue, and wanted “to give peace a chance”.

He confirmed that during this visit, Saudi officials had “requested us for aircraft, naval vessels and ground troops”.

PM Sharif met his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Friday, where the leaders discussed possible diplomatic solutions to the crisis in Yemen, in addition to expressing support for Saudi Arabia.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif is due to visit Islamabad on Wednesday to discuss the crisis.

Muslim-majority Pakistan is a long time ally of Saudi Arabia, which is home to Islam’s two holiest sites, Mecca and Medina. It is also a major recipient of Saudi aid.

Pakistan has been walking a tight rope on the issue, analysts say, balancing its alliance with Saudi Arabia against the possibility of military involvement souring relations with neighbour Iran and possibly inflaming sectarian tensions at home.

Pakistan’s military is also currently engaged in ongoing operations against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its allies in the country’s tribal areas, with roughly 170,000 troops committed to that fight, in addition to fighter jets, the defence minister said on Monday.

The session adjourned late on Monday without a resolution being passed, and Speaker Ayaz Sadiq reconvened the debate for Tuesday morning.

UN: 100,000 new displaced in Yemen since strikes began

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UNICEF says majority of those that have fled their homes since conflict escalated are women and children.

yemen

by Al Jazeera

More than a 100,000 people have fled their homes after Saudi-led coalition air strikes began in Yemen, according to UNICEF.

A spokesman from the UN agency, Rajat Madhok, told Al Jazeera that most of those who have been displaced are women and children.

“Most displacements have taken place from and within al-Dhale, Abyan, Amran, Saada, Hajja. The displaced persons are mostly being hosted with relatives,” Madhok said.

In a statement published on Tuesday, UNICEF, the UN agency that provides humanitarian assistance to children and mothers, said 74 children caught up in fighting had been killed and another 44 maimed since March 26.

“These are conservative figures and UNICEF believes that the total number of children killed is much higher,” the statement read.

The agency’s Yemen representative, Julien Harneis, said children were paying an “intolerable” price, and said more needed to be done to protect them.

“These children should be immediately afforded special respect and protection by all parties to the conflict, in line with international humanitarian law,” Harneis said.

Aden clashes

The comments came as Houthi rebels and forces backing President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi engaged in fierce clashes in the country’s south, reportedly leaving more than 140 people dead in 24 hours on Monday.

Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, spokesperson for the Houthis, told Al Jazeera that the number of civilian casualties was not yet clear.

“We don’t have a clear account of the number of civilians being killed but obviously the number is increasing due to the strikes and also the humanitarian situation is deteriorating due to the siege and strikes hitting food storages,” he said.

Aden is a power base for Hadi, who fled to Saudi Arabia as the fighters from the Zaydi Shia sect expanded their control across the country.

As thousands are in dire need of aid, the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) said that one passenger plane carrying staff was able to land in the capital Sanaa on Monday, but that the organisation has not yet been able to find a cargo plane operator to fly supplies into the country.

Sitara Jabeen, the ICRC’s spokesperson, told Al Jazeera that the humanitarian situation was worsening.

“The situation in Yemen remains extremely critical. The conflict … has intensified, especially in Aden. We are still trying to find a cargo plane that can carry our supplies to Sanaa,” said Jabeen, speaking from Sanaa.

The Saudi-led coalition has bombed Houthi positions since March 26 and has dropped weapons to Hadi loyalists, but the rebels continue to put up resistance and have said they will accept peace talks only if the aerial attacks stop.

The Houthis swept into Sanaa in September and put Hadi under house arrest before he fled to Aden and then to Saudi Arabia. Backed by militias loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, they control large swaths of Yemen, which is also grappling with al-Qaeda.

As Death Toll and Chaos Mount in Yemen, Red Cross Calls for Ceasefire

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‘The streets of Aden are strewn with dead bodies, and people are afraid to leave their homes,’ says Red Cross

A Houthi fighter mans a weapon on a patrol truck as he guards the site of a demonstration against Saudi-led coalition airstrikes, in Sanaa April 3, 2015. (Photo: Reuters/Mohamed al-Sayaghi)

A Houthi fighter mans a weapon on a patrol truck as he guards the site of a demonstration against Saudi-led coalition airstrikes, in Sanaa April 3, 2015. (Photo: Reuters/Mohamed al-Sayaghi)

by Deirdre Fulton, Common Dreams

Amid ongoing Saudi-led airstrikes—including a bombing Friday that killed at least nine people from the same Yemeni family—the United Nations is considering calls for a ceasefire in Yemen to allow urgent humanitarian aid deliveries and evacuation of civilians.

And on Sunday, Reuters cited a senior Houthi member who said the Houthis “are ready to sit down for peace talks as long as a Saudi-led air campaign is halted and the negotiations are overseen by ‘non-aggressive’ parties.”

Warplanes and ships from a Saudi-led coalition have been bombing the Iran-allied Houthi forces for 11 days.

However, as Juan Cole notes, the airstrikes “have repeatedly hit civilian neighborhoods in cities like Sanaa and have, intentionally or no, struck soft targets of no obvious military value, including a refugee camp.”

Hundreds have reportedly died, and the International Committee of the Red Cross, in its appeal for an immediate “humanitarian pause,” describedharrowing conditions for civilians.

The Red Cross said, “hospitals and clinics treating the streams of wounded from across much of Yemen are running low on life-saving medicines and equipment. In many parts of the country, the population is also suffering from fuel and water shortages, while food stocks are quickly depleting. Dozens of people are being killed and wounded every day. The streets of Aden are strewn with dead bodies, and people are afraid to leave their homes.”

Summer Nasser, a human rights activist and blogger in Aden, told Al Jazeerathat it seemed the humanitarian crisis in that city “is actually getting worse by the hour.”

If relief supplies and medical personnel are unable to reach affected areas, Robert Mardini, head of Red Cross operations in the Near and Middle East, warned that “many more will die.”

Russia similarly appealed to the United Nations Security Council, pressing for suspensions of the airstrikes to allow evacuation of foreign civilians and diplomats and demanding rapid and unhindered humanitarian access. The council met Saturday in New York to consider the proposal, but made no decisions.

BBC reports that the council’s president, Dina Kawar, who is also Jordan’s UN ambassador, said members needed time to “reflect on the proposal.”

According to Al Jazeera:

Saudi Arabian Brigadier General Ahmed al-Asiri, a spokesman for the Arab coalition, told a news conference that aid “will come when we are able to set the conditions [so] that this aid will benefit the population”.

He said the coalition requires that aid delivery does not interfere with the military operation, that aid workers are not put at risk, and that supplies do not fall into the wrong hands.

“We don’t want to supply the militias,” Asiri said.

Meanwhile, the Guardian reported that three Arab-American advocacy groups—The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Asian Law Caucus (ALC)—have created StuckInYemen.com as part of a campaign to highlight the plight of Yemeni Americans, currently trapped in the war-torn country, who fear they have been abandoned by their own government.

In Yemen, Red Cross reports aid blockade by Saudi air campaign as medics say 185 lives lost in Aden battle

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A UN count earlier this week estimates some 519 people have been killed and almost 1,700 wounded in Yemen in the last two weeks. (AFP/File)

A UN count earlier this week estimates some 519 people have been killed and almost 1,700 wounded in Yemen in the last two weeks. (AFP/File)

by Al Bawaba

Heavy clashes between rival militias has left at least 185 people dead and wounded 1,200 others in Yemen’s port city of Aden, a medical official told the AFP Saturday.

Despite the toll coming from the latest battles between warring militias in the ciy, the medical official believes some two thirds of Aden’s casualties are civilians.

The last stronghold for embattled Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, Aden has been a strategic battleground for Shiite Houthi rebels and the pro-government militias trying to restore Hadi’s control on the ground with help from Saudi-led coalition air power above.

Aden Health Department Director Al-Kheder Lassouar told the news agency the casualty and injury count, came from local hospitals, who began tracking the numbers on March 26, and refers only to casualties that occured as a result of militia clashes in Aden. The count does not include casualties from the side of the Houthis and their allies, the director explained, as they often do not bring their injured to public hospitals, and also excludes death tolls resulting from Saudi-led airstrikes in the country.

Under the weight of a mounting injury and death count, Lassouar said the city’s hospitals were inn eed of international assistance and supplies.

A UN count given Thursday estimates some 519 people have died and almost 1,700 wounded across the war-torn country in the last two weeks, but did not specify whether the number also included fighters.

Since Saudi Arabia launched its air campaign against the Houthis on March 26, international powers have voiced concern about the escalating humanitarian crisis unfolding in the country. The International Red Cross said Saturday three aid and medical staff shipments have been blocked from entering Yemen because of the Saudi-led coalition, Reuters reported, which is currently in control of the war-torn nation’s air space and port access.

The international aid organization is seeking secure air space for two planes carrying bulk medical supplies and medical and water sanitation items to the capital Sanaa, in addition to a boat to carry a surgical team to Aden. The group says Saudi’s coalition has so far blocked their efforts. Fellow aid organization Medecins Sans Frontieres has made similar claims against the coalition, saying restictions on Yemeni air space and port access has prevented them from delivering vital medical supplies to civilians trapped between the warring groups across the chaotic country.

The claims come on the heels of a Russian push for humanitarian pauses in the Saudi air campaign to minimize the crushing blow to civilian lives the deepening crisis has caused so far. The 15-member UN Security Council will meet Saturday in the US to discuss Russia’s request.

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