Local Editor
At least 716 cases of rights violations were committed against civilians in Yemen last month, a rights watchdog has said.
The Geneva-based SAM organization said in a statement on Sunday that among the violations were incidents of extrajudicial killing, physical assault, arbitrary detention, forced displacement, torture and violations of press freedom.
A total of 115 civilians were killed in October, according to SAM. The group also reported 140 new cases of arbitrary detention in October. SAM condemned all the incidents in its report as "gross violations" of international humanitarian law.
"[SAM] urges the UN and humanitarian organizations to provide immediate aid to the displaced civilians in Taiz and to work on lifting the blockade … immediately and without conditions," the group noted, urging the Saudi-led coalition to "avoid targeting civilians and to review its rules of combat in accordance with the international laws and conventions".
Saudi Arabia and its allies have been at war in Yemen since March 2015, when the oil-rich kingdom intervened to push back Houthi revolutionaries and reinstate the regime of resigned President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
The coalition, armed with US weaponry and logistical support, forced the closure of Sana’a airport in August 2016 to all but a few United Nations aid flights.
Earlier this month, the Saudi-led coalition intensified its embargo on Yemen, closing all of the country's land, sea and air ports.
Although Saudi eased its closure this week, allowing vital supplies into ports in regime-controlled areas, the UN has warned that only a complete lifting of the blockade would stop what could be the worst famine in decades.
Saudi has deemed the blockade necessary to limit the alleged flow of weaponry to Houthi forces from Iran.
At least 12,000 people have been killed in the Yemen conflict, and seven million are in dire need of food assistance.
Source: Al-Jazeera, Edited by Website Team
