Local Editor

The United Nations [UN] said that none of the $274 million that Saudi Arabia pledged months ago to fund an emergency aid appeal for Yemen has arrived, while aid groups begin to warn that millions trapped by the conflict are on the brink of starvation.

The spokesman for the UN secretary-general told reporters on Thursday that memoranda of understanding between Saudi Arabia and various UN agencies remain to be signed. 

Meanwhile, the UN humanitarian chief recently this week warned that the delay is causing significant pain.

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

Saudi Arabia began its US-led military aggression against Yemen on March 26 - without a UN mandate - in a bid to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement, and to restore power to Yemen’s fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, who is a close ally of Saudi Arabia.

Based on UN figures, over 3,261 people have been killed, 1,670 of whom were civilians in the Saudi onslaught.