Local Editor

United Nations [UN] Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on maintaining the humanitarian pause in Yemen, while also calling on suspending military operations, according to a statement on Sunday. 

Since March, a Saudi-led coalition backed by the United States has been carrying out airstrikes against Yemen. The airstrikes have not been authorized by the UN.

In a statement issued by the spokesperson for Ban Ki-moon in New York on Sunday, Ban Ki-moon called for "maintain[ing] the humanitarian pause for the sake of all the Yemeni people, and that all act in good faith throughout the pause", with the statement also noting that the growing number of civilian casualties--including disturbing reports of civilian deaths in Mokha recently on Friday evening-- in the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe make a pause and an eventual extension an imperative.

He called for suspending military operations during the pause and refraining from exploiting the pause to move weapons or seize territory.

Additionally, he also called for facilitating safe, unhindered access of relief workers to desperate populations throughout the crisis-riven country.