United Nations, March 27.- UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the escalation of the conflict in Yemen, which has left hundreds of thousands dead and millions starving in seven years.
Guterres also called for “restraint” from the warring factions following reports of the Houthi rebel attack on an oil factory and the airstrike by Saudi-led coalition forces on Sana’a, the capital of the impoverished Arab nation, that killed at least eight civilians.
The coalition offensive also included the port city of Hodeidah.
“The Secretary-General strongly condemns the recent escalation of the conflict in Yemen,” United Nations (UN) spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.
Figures updated by the International Committee of the Red Cross show that out of a population of 30.5 million, more than 20 million Yemenis lack access to basic health care and around 16.2 million face food shortages.
Hostilities began in 2014 when the Houthis took up arms and occupied large parts of the country, including Sanaa, and a year later, in March 2015, the Saudi-led alliance intervened in support of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, two-thirds of the population, around 20 million people, are in need of humanitarian assistance and 80 percent live below the poverty line.
For many analysts, Yemen is suffering from the world’s worst humanitarian crisis as a result of a seven-year war that seems to have no end. (LP)
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