Local Editor

United Nations [UN] Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Stephen O’Brien, on Wednesday strongly criticized Saudi-led attacks on the Yemen port of Hodeida, a lifeline for imports of food, medicine and fuel.

"These attacks are in clear contravention of international humanitarian law and are unacceptable," Stephen O’Brien told the Security Council.

He noted that reports of Saudi-led air strikes and other shelling in and around the Hodeida port earlier this week damaged the main lifelines for the import of basic goods such as food, medicines and fuel.

He said that he was "extremely concerned" that damage from the bombings "could have a severe impact on the entire country," worsening the humanitarian crisis.

Returning from a visit to Yemen, O’Brien said that the "scale of human suffering is almost incomprehensible."

"I was shocked by what I saw", he expressed. 

He added that the civilian population is bearing the brunt of the conflict, with four out of five Yemenis requiring humanitarian assistance and nearly 1.5 million people internally displaced. 

More than 1,000 children have been killed or injured and the number of young people recruited or used as fighters is increasing, O’Brien said.

He also said that disregard for human life by parties continues, with attacks on residential areas and civilian infrastructure having a disproportionate impact on the lives of ordinary people in Yemen.

Already 80 percent of Yemen’s population of 26 million are in desperate need of aid, and nearly 1.5 million have been driven from their homes in the nearly five-month Saudi-led aggression.

Moreover, O’Brien appealed for a political solution to end the violence that he stressed was "destroying the lives of millions of people" in Yemen.

A Saudi-led coalition backed by the United States has been carrying out a military aggression on Yemen by launching deadly airstrikes against the country since March. The airstrikes have not been authorized by the UN.