Tens of Thousands Flee Yemen Rebel Heartland: Aid Groups
LONDON – Aid agencies said 70,000 people, including 28,000 children, were fleeing the rebel stronghold of Saada in northwest Yemen as it was pummelled by increasingly fierce airstrikes on Sunday.
The 17 aid groups, including Oxfam, Islamic Relief and Save the Children, condemned the “growing intensity” of the bombing and called for an immediate and lasting ceasefire.
“There is an urgent need to halt hostilities in order to move humanitarian aid to the country,” said Daw Mohamed, country director of CARE International in Yemen.
“All parties concerned should also come forward to work out a long-term political solution to the problem.”
The call came as ceasefire efforts gathered pace to end more than six weeks of Saudi-led air strikes against Shiite Huthi rebels, who have seized much of the country.
Saada in the northern mountains was targeted by warplanes for a second night straight on Saturday, after the coalition declared the whole province a military target.
The United Nations has expressed concern about the civilian death toll, warning that the indiscriminate bombing of populated areas is against international law.
Save the Children said that people were largely unable to flee due to a “de facto blockade” that had lead to severe fuel shortages, and expressed concern about the dropping of leaflets urging civilians to leave.
“The indiscriminate attacks after the dropping of leaflets urging civilians to leave Saada raises concerns about the possible pattern being established in breach of International Humanitarian Law,” said Save the Children Yemen country director, Edward Santiago.
“Warning civilians does not exonerate the coalition from their obligation to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, and we have seen in the last days that the warnings have not been enough to spare civilian lives.”
Air strikes also targeted the home of ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh, accused of orchestrating an alliance between rebels and renegade army units that allowed them to overrun swathes of the country beyond Saada.