Local Editor
Tamim al-Shami, spokesman for the Yemeni Ministry of Health, spoke to Sputnik Arabic saying that the country does not have enough baby food due to the military operations of the Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia in Yemen.
Al-Shami further said that because of the sea, land and air blockade which was imposed on Yemen, there has been a severe reduction in food imports. Similarly, there is a severe shortage of medicine across the country.
"Al-Wadiah is the only functioning crossing point between Yemen and Saudi Arabia. The import of goods has decreased by 25% since the beginning of the aggression, which is a record over the past 40 years," Al-Shami told Sputnik Arabic.
Al-Shami added that Saudi Arabia continues to carry out air strikes on hospitals and humanitarian structures, completely destroying them and rendering them useless.
"Over 60% of our humanitarian structures have been destroyed across the main regions of the country, which resulted in a dramatic deterioration of the healthcare situation. Moreover, the country’s water sources have been contaminated resulting in various epidemics and diseases," the spokesperson pointed out.
Al-Shami demanded that the international organizations and international community must immediately help to end this blockade and open land, sea and air routes in Yemen in order to fix the acute shortages of food and medicine in the country.
Saudi Arabia began its deadly campaign against Yemen in late March 2015. The strikes were meant to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement and restore power to fugitive former president Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
More than half of Yemen’s 22 million population are currently living at emergency levels of food insecurity and need urgent relief - especially in remote rural areas that are often overlooked by humanitarian schemes.
About 10,000 people have been killed and over 16,000 injured since Riyadh launched the airstrikes. The Saudi aggression has also taken a heavy toll on Yemen’s facilities and infrastructure.
Source: Sputnik, Edited by Website Team
