Local Editor
Riyadh announced an easing of its 18-month air blockade of neighboring Yemen on Wednesday to allow the evacuation of hundreds of wounded from a deadly Saudi air strike that killed and injured nearly 700 people in the weekend.
More than 140 people were killed in Saturday’s raid the Yemeni capital Sana’a that drew worldwide condemnation.
At least 525 more were wounded, according to the United Nations, making it one of the bloodiest attacks since a Saudi-led coalition launched a bombing campaign against Yemen in March 2015.
More than 300 are in critical condition and need medical treatment abroad, the spokesman for the health authority in Sana’a, Tamim al-Shami said on Sunday.
The official Saudi Press Agency reported that King Salman instructed aid officials to coordinate with the coalition and the Saudi-backed Yemeni exiled regime "to facilitate the evacuation of those wounded... and needing treatment abroad."
The coalition has enforced an air and sea blockade on Yemen since the start of its bombing campaign.
The civil aviation authority in the Yemeni capital had called on the United Nations on Tuesday to "act quickly and seriously to end the air blockade imposed on Sana’a airport in order to save the lives of hundreds wounded."
Meanwhile, Director General of Yemen’s Air Transport Mazen Ahmad Qanem said a large number of the wounded from Saudi Arabia’s attack on a funeral ceremony in the capital Sana’a last Saturday had died after not being able to travel for treatment.
The attack killed more than 140 civilians and has injured more than 615 others.
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.
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
