PHOTO: Burial of victims from a Saudi airstrike near Okash, close to Yemen’s capital Sanaa (Reuters)
The Red Cross called on Saturday for a 24-hour ceasefire in the Saudi-led bombing of Yemen, but the attacks continued through the night.
The Red Cross asked for the pause so aid workers could deal with the humanitarian crisis from the conflict, but an activist in the Yemeni capital Sanaa said airstrikes were the heaviest since they began 10 days ago. Targets included political bureaus of the Houthis in residential areas, as well as military positions.
The Saudis are trying to check the military and political advance of the Houthi movement, which took power in Sanaa in February and has moved on the southern port city of Aden, where President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi tried to set up an alternative Government.
Last week, the Houthis briefly took the palace of Hadi, who left Yemen as the Saudi-led strikes began, but soon pulled back.
On Saturday, the UN Security Council met on Saturday to discuss Russia’s draft resolution that calls for “regular and obligatory” breaks in the airstrikes. The pauses would allow for the evacuation of foreigners and safe and unhindered access for humanitarian assistance.
Marie-Claire Feghali, a spokesperson for the Red Cross in Sanaa, said, “The humanitarian situation is extremely difficult and is getting more difficult by the day….Hospitals are overwhelmed.”
Saudi Arabian Brigadier General Ahmed al-Asiri, a spokesman for the anti-Houthi coalition, said aid “will come when we are able to set the conditions [so] that this aid will benefit the population”: “We don’t want to supply the militias.”
The UN says more than 500 people have been killed and almost 1,700 wounded in the last two weeks.
