Local Editor
The UN’s humanitarian chief, Mark Lowcock, warned that millions of Yemenis will die unless the Saudi-led military coalition lifts its devastating blockade on the country.
Lowcock briefed the UN Security Council on the worsening humanitarian situation in Yemen, explaining, “that unless those measures are lifted … there will be a famine in Yemen”.
The Saudis and their allies tightened the air, land and sea blockade on Yemen after a ballistic missile was fired towards Riyadh on Saturday.
The move has led to a spike in food and fuel prices and desperately needed aid shipments have been prevented from reaching the country.
“It will not be like the famine that we saw in South Sudan earlier in the year, where tens of thousands of people were affected. It will not be like the famine which cost 250,000 people their lives in Somalia in 2011,” Lowcock told reporters on Wednesday. “It will be the largest famine the world has seen in many decades, with millions of victims.”
Riyadh has been leading a destructive military campaign against Yemen since March 2015 to reinstate former president Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi and crush the Houthi Ansarullah movement.
Failing to achieve any of its stated military objectives, the campaign has killed tens of thousands and left over seven million in need of food assistance.
Millions of others do not have adequate access to health, water and sanitation services.
The country has also been hit by a cholera outbreak, with some 900,000 suspected cases since April.
Source: LualuaTV, Edited by Website Team
