(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is gravely concerned about the continued ground fighting and aerial bombardment in Yemen and its impact on innocent civilians.
A statement released today by his spokesman, confirming that more than 1,200 people have been killed and 300,000 have fled their homes in the past six weeks, a statement by his press office confirmed.
There are credible reports of families in Aden trapped by the bombardment and snipers targeting civilians in the street, therefore, the statement noted that "attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, humanitarian warehouses and UN compounds, are unacceptable and in violation of international humanitarian law." Furthermore, the violence has severely blocked shipments of food, fuel and healthcare, as well as all airports are closed to civilian traffic - some have come under direct attack - and naval shipments are being delayed.
Yemen's health, water and sanitation systems and telecommunications services "are on the brink of collapse," the spokesman said, as humanitarian operations will end within days unless fuel supplies are restored.
Ban urged all parties engaged in military operations to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, and appealed for "attacks on hospitals and health facilities to end immediately." Nevertheless, the UN chief called on all parties to ensure that humanitarian agencies and their partners have safe and reliable access to bring aid workers and supplies into Yemen and to deliver aid to millions of people in need. He repeated his call for an immediate ceasefire - and short of that humanitarian pauses in areas affected by conflict - and urged the immediate resumption of fuel imports to avoid making the already catastrophic humanitarian situation in Yemen even worse.
Earlier this week, the UN Security Council has agreed that the political situation must resume and that the implementation of resolution 2214 and 2216 in Yemen must be respected.
Ambassador Dina Kawar of Jordan also expressed concern over the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, and urged facilitation the evacuation operations as well as the delivery of humanitarian assistance "as rapid and as safe as possible." On Saturday, Ban announced the appointment of Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed of Mauritania as his Special Envoy for Yemen to take over Benomar's work.
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