Local Editor

Nearly 100 civilians have been killed in the past two weeks in Yemen’s southwestern city of Taiz where a collapsing health care service and outbreak of dengue fever are compounding a dire humanitarian situation, the United Nations [UN] said on Tuesday.

The toll of 95 includes 53 civilians who died in Saudi-led air strikes on Taiz on Aug 21 that also hit 20 homes, the UN human rights spokeswoman Cecile Pouilly told a news briefing.

"We are alarmed by the steep increase in the number of civil casualties in Taiz in recent weeks", Pouilly said.

"We are also concerned about the near collapse of the health care system in Taiz where all six public hospitals are no longer operational due to the fighting", she further said.

She added that attacks by the Saudi-led coalition on Hodeidah port, a key entry point for aid supplies and commercial imports for Yemen, are complicating relief efforts.

Cases in Taiz of dengue fever, a mosquito-borne viral disease that can be fatal, soared from 145 in mid-August to 421 as of Aug 25, the World Health Organization [WHO] said.

The WHO has sent life-saving medicines to Taiz, WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said. The agency called recently last week for a ceasefire and humanitarian corridor to allow access to 3.2 million people in Taiz deemed at risk from fighting and disease.

"The risk of other communicable diseases like cholera also remains high especially given the poor water and sanitation conditions during this period," he added.

Since the conflict escalated in Yemen on March 26, UN monitors have documented 6,631 civilian casualties, including 2,112 deaths.

Pouilly said that the true figures could be much higher.

A Saudi-led coalition backed by the United States has been carrying out a military aggression on Yemen by launching airstrikes against the country since March 26. The airstrikes have not been authorized by the United Nations [UN].