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UN warns assault on Yemen port would have ‘catastrophic’ impact
SANAA, June 8, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Any military assault to capture a key
rebel-held port in Yemen would have a “catastrophic humanitarian impact” in
the country already reeling from a brutal conflict, the United Nations warned
Friday.
Fears have grown as government forces backed up by a Saudi-led coalition
have battled closer to Hodeida, the main gateway for aid into Yemen that is
controlled by Iran-aligned Huthi rebels.
“A military attack or siege on Hodeida will impact hundreds of thousands
of innocent civilians,” Lise Grande, UN humanitarian coordinator for Yemen,
said in a statement that estimated up to 600,000 people live in and around
the port.
“Humanitarian organisations have rushed to develop a contingency plan. In
a prolonged worst case, we fear that as many as 250,000 people may lose
everything – even their lives.”
The statement warned that the likely “catastrophic humanitarian impact”
would be worsened due to Hodeida’s key role as the point of entry for some 70
percent of Yemen’s imports.
“Cutting off imports through Hodeida for any length of time will put
Yemen’s population at extreme, unjustifiable risk,” Grande said.
Yemeni government forces have advanced to within nine kilometres (six
miles) of Hodeida, the Saudi-led military coalition said Monday.
The push for the strategic Red Sea port has killed more than 100 soldiers
and insurgents, according to medics and military sources close the
government.
The rebels, who have so far refused to withdraw from the port, claim 418
loyalist fighters have been killed.
The UN’s top envoy for Yemen pushed for all sides to de-escalate the
fighting around Hodeida during a visit this week as he sought to broker
negotiations.
The Huthis captured Hodeida and Yemen’s capital Sanaa in 2014, with Saudi
Arabia and its allies intervening on behalf of the government the following
year.
The conflict in Yemen has left nearly 10,000 people dead in what was
already the Arab world’s poorest country.
The UN already considers the situation in the country to be the world’s
worst humanitarian crisis.
More than 22 million people are now in serious need of aid, with 8.4
million on the brink of starvation, the world body has said.
BSS/AFP/RY/1750 hrs