Local Editor
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said the humanitarian disaster in Yemen is as devastating as in Syria, warning of a tragic catastrophe in the war-torn country.
"Tragic events are taking place in Yemen," Gatilov said at the opening of an annual student conference in Moscow on Tuesday.
"The fight against terrorism is underway in Yemen, and there is the intra-Yemeni conflict, which is a very serious humanitarian disaster," he said.
The Russian official added that about 80 percent of the Yemeni population is affected by the humanitarian crisis. "Some of our colleagues, especially Western, do not speak so openly and emotionally about that, probably because they are more focused on what is happening in Syria," Gatilov said.
"But the humanitarian disaster in Yemen is no less devastating," he said, adding that "a solution should be found."
Saudi Arabia began its deadly campaign against Yemen in late March 2015. The strikes were meant to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement and restore power to fugitive former president Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
During the first year of this aggression, Britain licensed over £3 billion in arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
The war has drawn huge international condemnation, with the Saudi coalition's actions having further devastated the Middle East's poorest nation.
More than half of Yemen’s 22 million population are currently living at emergency levels of food insecurity and need urgent relief – especially in remote rural areas that are often overlooked by humanitarian schemes.
About 11,403 people have been killed and over 19,343 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
