Humanitarian situation in Yemen 'catastrophic' – Red Cross

The humanitarian situation in Yemen has become catastrophic, relief officials said on Monday, as Saudi-led aircraft pounded Iran-allied Houthi militiamen and rebel army units for a second day, dashing hopes for a pause in fighting to let aid in. Residents said warplanes flew between 15 and 20 sorties against groups of Houthi fighters and arms depots in the provincial capital Dhalea and the nearby city of Qa’ataba, between dawn and 9am local time, setting off a chain of explosions that lasted for two hours. Fighting intensified on Sunday, after a lull following an announcement by Riyadh last week that it was ending its nearly five-week-old bombing campaign, except in places where the Houthis were advancing, to allow access for food and medicine. A coalition of Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia, rattled by what they saw as expanding Iranian influence in the Arabian Peninsula, is trying to stop Houthi fighters and loyalists of former president Ali Abdullah Salah taking control of Yemen. But the air campaign has had little success and vital aid was reported to be being held up by both sides. Houthis were stopping convoys of trucks reaching the southern port city of Aden, and an arms blockade by Saudi-led coalition navies searching ships for weapons was holding up food deliveries by sea. “It was difficult enough before, but now there are just no words for how bad it’s gotten,” said International Committee of the Red Cross spokeswoman Marie Claire Feghali. “It’s a catastrophe, a humanitarian catastrophe.” Yemen’s human rights minister, Izzedine al-Asbahi, agreed. “The war and its results have turned Yemen back 100 years, due to the destruction of infrastructure ... especially in the provinces of Aden, Dhalea and Taiz,” he told a news conference in the Saudi capital of Riyadh. Telecommunications within Yemen and with the outside world could be cut within days due to a shortage of fuel, state-run news agency Saba quoted the director of telecommunications as saying. Fuel shortages were also preventing traders from moving food to market, the United Nations’ World Food Programme said. Fuel prices were as much as £7 a litre, and there was only enough to keep hospitals running for one more week and to prolong life-saving humanitarian operations for two weeks, the UN humanitarian agency OCHA said.   The Guardian