Local Editor
The Saudi-led coalition of Arab states has to be held accountable for the casualties among children in Yemen as a result of its aerial operations in the country, six aid agencies said in a joint letter addressed to the United Nations on Monday.
The report reminded that according to the UN data, some 2,000 children were killed or injured in Yemen in 2015, with 60 percent of these casualties being attributed to the coalition‘s airstrikes.
"Yemen’s children have faced unimaginable horrors in the past 15 months. All parties to the conflict in Yemen are responsible for committing grave violations against children, but by the UN’s own evidence, the Coalition’s military operations are responsible for a significant amount of this suffering," Save the Children’s Country Director in Yemen Edward Santiago said, as quoted in the letter.
The agencies also called on all parties to the conflict in Yemen to take "concrete steps to end grave violations against children."
The undersigned agencies include Action Contre La Faim, CARE, Intersos, Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam and Save the Children.
Since 2014, Yemen has been engulfed in a military conflict between the ex-regime headed by fugitive President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and the Ansarullah movement, also known as the Houthis, which is the country’s main opposition force. The Houthis are backed by army units loyal to former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Since March 2015, the Saudi-led coalition of mostly Persian Gulf countries have been carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis to reinstate Hadi.
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: News Agencies, Edited by Website Team
