UN Seeks Humanitarian Pause in Yemen War
United States supported coalition bombs marketplace, residential areas killing civilians
By Abayomi Azikiwe
Editor, Pan-African News Wire
Hundreds have been killed and wounded in Yemen as a direct result of the ongoing bombing campaign supported and coordinated by the Pentagon.
On July 6 the Saudi Arabian and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) attacked the party headquarters of the former President Ali Abdullah Saleh. An alliance between the General People’s Congress (GPC) and the Ansurallah (Houthis) has been fighting forces backed by ousted fugitive President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi who is based in Riyadh.
Aerial bomb attacks on the offices of the GPC caused casualties among workers and security personnel at the building located in the south of the capital, party official Faeqa al-Sayed told the international press. The strikes on the headquarters took place while GPC members were holding a meeting with the UN's Yemen envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed in a separate area of Sanaa.
Sayed described the bombings as "an attempt to derail the UN envoy's mission".
Ahmed, who is from the North African state of Mauritania, arrived in Yemen on July 5 ostensibly to create the conditions that would result in an humanitarian ceasefire in an effort to end the fighting so that real negotiations can occur leading to peace in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula nation.
"As we were conducting consultations with the UN envoy to find solutions to the political crisis gripping the country... Saudi forces bombed the party headquarters, killing employees and guards and destroying the building," Sayed was quoted as saying by the GPC's news site, Almotar.Net.
Hadi has insisted that there can be no ceasefire until an agreement is reached to return him to power. The failure of the recent talks in Geneva was due to the failure of the Washington-backed regime in Riyadh to hold discussions aimed at a resolution of the political crisis.
Furthermore, the Saudi-GCC alliance which is supporting Hadi are demanding that any UN humanitarian relief can only be guaranteed if the Ansurallah and GPC forces are withdrawn from the vast territories they now control in Yemen.
A spokesperson for Hadi, Rajeh Badi, told Reuters that "We are now in consultations for guarantees to ensure the success of the truce. The mechanism we presented to implement (the U.N. resolution) demanded real guarantees to ensure aid is delivered to those who need it…to lift the deliberate siege on Aden, Taiz, Lahj and Dhalea". (July 6)
Southern Areas Bombed by U.S.-backed Fighter Bombers
Another major attack by the Saudi-GCC alliance took place in the south of the country where a market place was bombed killing many civilians on July 6.
In an Associated Press article on July 6, its says “A massive airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition targeting rebels hit a local marketplace in Yemen, killing over 45 civilians on Monday (July 6), security officials and eyewitnesses said. More than 50 civilians were also wounded in the strike in Fayoush, a suburb just north of the southern port city of Aden, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information otherwise.” (AP)
An eyewitness to the damage from these airstrikes, Abu-Ali al-Azikbi, told the AP that "I came right after the explosion and saw dozens of dead strewn about and a sea of blood, while the wounded were being evacuated to nearby hospitals. (There was) blood from people mixed with that of the sheep and other livestock at the market."
Thousands have been killed since the United States backed alliance embarked upon an air war on March 26. The Pentagon continues to provide intelligence and refueling technology along with diplomatic cover to the Riyadh-based alliance.
UN Says Population Facing Peril
Millions are facing critical food shortages and death due to the targeting of civilian areas and infrastructure such as ports, imposing a blockade preventing goods from entering the already underdeveloped Middle Eastern nation.
Since the beginning of the bombing on March 26, 20 million Yemenis are without access to safe drinking water while over one million people have been driven from their homes, says UN officials.
On July 1, the world body announced the highest-level humanitarian crisis in Yemen where it is reported that over 80 percent of the people are in dire need of assistance.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released June 29 that airstrikes on an Ansurallah-held areas in Saada killed at least 59 people, in what it said appeared to be a violation of international law. These particular attacks also destroyed markets, homes and a gas station.
One strike on a residential neighborhood killed 27 members of the same family, including 17 children. With the U.S. providing technical assistance and political support for the war, Washington is just as responsible for these atrocities as their allies in the region.
Iran Calls for Peace Settlement in Yemen
This war has been described as an indirect conflict between the Islamic Republic of Iran and those countries in the Middle East that are aligned with Washington and Wall Street. However, efforts by Tehran to provide humanitarian assistance or to work towards a peace settlement have been rebuffed by Saudi Arabia and the U.S.
Amid the escalation in bombing and the worsening humanitarian crisis in the country, an Iranian official said the only real solution to the war in Yemen is the announcement of a ceasefire and the adoption of a framework for dialog between the various parties. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made these observations as part of a telephone discussion with UN special envoy Ahmed on July 5.
Press TV quoted Abdollahian as saying “The Islamic Republic believes Yemeni groups and factions can reach sustainable agreement under the supervision of the UN. Since the onset of the foreign military strikes on Yemen, Iran has unequivocally announced that the Saudi military action is a strategic mistake, the only outcome of which will be the slaughter of the people of Yemen and the spread of terrorism and insecurity in the sensitive Persian Gulf region.” (July 6)
Nonetheless, despite these diplomatic overtures by Tehran, the UN has refused to impose sanctions or other punitive measures against the Saudi-GCC alliance and their supporters in the U.S. It is the Washington-backed forces that are carrying out the airstrikes as well as supporting surrogate rebel forces on the ground who are fighting against the Ansurallah-GPC alliance.
A leading Saudi-based news agency reported in early July that Tehran was coordinating Ansurallah military activities in Yemen through military advisers, one of which was killed inside the beleaguered state. Iran denied such allegations saying they were not based on facts.
Deputy Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian made remarks after Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV channel claimed that some Iranian military experts had been killed in fighting in Yemen. Iran has been a fierce critic of Saudi-led air strikes on Yemen, calling it a big strategic mistake. (Iran Times, July 4)
Amir-Abdollahian noted that the ongoing Saudi-GCC alliance’s war on the innocent Yemeni people represented instances of war crimes which have no justification.
This war of destruction and genocide is part and parcel of a broader strategy by U.S. imperialism to dominate the regions of the Middle East and North Africa. The development s in Yemen cannot be viewed independently of what has taken place in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Egypt where Washington’s interventions have left a trial of destruction, dislocation and death.
By Abayomi Azikiwe
Editor, Pan-African News Wire
Hundreds have been killed and wounded in Yemen as a direct result of the ongoing bombing campaign supported and coordinated by the Pentagon.
On July 6 the Saudi Arabian and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) attacked the party headquarters of the former President Ali Abdullah Saleh. An alliance between the General People’s Congress (GPC) and the Ansurallah (Houthis) has been fighting forces backed by ousted fugitive President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi who is based in Riyadh.
Aerial bomb attacks on the offices of the GPC caused casualties among workers and security personnel at the building located in the south of the capital, party official Faeqa al-Sayed told the international press. The strikes on the headquarters took place while GPC members were holding a meeting with the UN's Yemen envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed in a separate area of Sanaa.
Sayed described the bombings as "an attempt to derail the UN envoy's mission".
Ahmed, who is from the North African state of Mauritania, arrived in Yemen on July 5 ostensibly to create the conditions that would result in an humanitarian ceasefire in an effort to end the fighting so that real negotiations can occur leading to peace in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula nation.
"As we were conducting consultations with the UN envoy to find solutions to the political crisis gripping the country... Saudi forces bombed the party headquarters, killing employees and guards and destroying the building," Sayed was quoted as saying by the GPC's news site, Almotar.Net.
Hadi has insisted that there can be no ceasefire until an agreement is reached to return him to power. The failure of the recent talks in Geneva was due to the failure of the Washington-backed regime in Riyadh to hold discussions aimed at a resolution of the political crisis.
Furthermore, the Saudi-GCC alliance which is supporting Hadi are demanding that any UN humanitarian relief can only be guaranteed if the Ansurallah and GPC forces are withdrawn from the vast territories they now control in Yemen.
A spokesperson for Hadi, Rajeh Badi, told Reuters that "We are now in consultations for guarantees to ensure the success of the truce. The mechanism we presented to implement (the U.N. resolution) demanded real guarantees to ensure aid is delivered to those who need it…to lift the deliberate siege on Aden, Taiz, Lahj and Dhalea". (July 6)
Southern Areas Bombed by U.S.-backed Fighter Bombers
Another major attack by the Saudi-GCC alliance took place in the south of the country where a market place was bombed killing many civilians on July 6.
In an Associated Press article on July 6, its says “A massive airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition targeting rebels hit a local marketplace in Yemen, killing over 45 civilians on Monday (July 6), security officials and eyewitnesses said. More than 50 civilians were also wounded in the strike in Fayoush, a suburb just north of the southern port city of Aden, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information otherwise.” (AP)
An eyewitness to the damage from these airstrikes, Abu-Ali al-Azikbi, told the AP that "I came right after the explosion and saw dozens of dead strewn about and a sea of blood, while the wounded were being evacuated to nearby hospitals. (There was) blood from people mixed with that of the sheep and other livestock at the market."
Thousands have been killed since the United States backed alliance embarked upon an air war on March 26. The Pentagon continues to provide intelligence and refueling technology along with diplomatic cover to the Riyadh-based alliance.
UN Says Population Facing Peril
Millions are facing critical food shortages and death due to the targeting of civilian areas and infrastructure such as ports, imposing a blockade preventing goods from entering the already underdeveloped Middle Eastern nation.
Since the beginning of the bombing on March 26, 20 million Yemenis are without access to safe drinking water while over one million people have been driven from their homes, says UN officials.
On July 1, the world body announced the highest-level humanitarian crisis in Yemen where it is reported that over 80 percent of the people are in dire need of assistance.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released June 29 that airstrikes on an Ansurallah-held areas in Saada killed at least 59 people, in what it said appeared to be a violation of international law. These particular attacks also destroyed markets, homes and a gas station.
One strike on a residential neighborhood killed 27 members of the same family, including 17 children. With the U.S. providing technical assistance and political support for the war, Washington is just as responsible for these atrocities as their allies in the region.
Iran Calls for Peace Settlement in Yemen
This war has been described as an indirect conflict between the Islamic Republic of Iran and those countries in the Middle East that are aligned with Washington and Wall Street. However, efforts by Tehran to provide humanitarian assistance or to work towards a peace settlement have been rebuffed by Saudi Arabia and the U.S.
Amid the escalation in bombing and the worsening humanitarian crisis in the country, an Iranian official said the only real solution to the war in Yemen is the announcement of a ceasefire and the adoption of a framework for dialog between the various parties. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made these observations as part of a telephone discussion with UN special envoy Ahmed on July 5.
Press TV quoted Abdollahian as saying “The Islamic Republic believes Yemeni groups and factions can reach sustainable agreement under the supervision of the UN. Since the onset of the foreign military strikes on Yemen, Iran has unequivocally announced that the Saudi military action is a strategic mistake, the only outcome of which will be the slaughter of the people of Yemen and the spread of terrorism and insecurity in the sensitive Persian Gulf region.” (July 6)
Nonetheless, despite these diplomatic overtures by Tehran, the UN has refused to impose sanctions or other punitive measures against the Saudi-GCC alliance and their supporters in the U.S. It is the Washington-backed forces that are carrying out the airstrikes as well as supporting surrogate rebel forces on the ground who are fighting against the Ansurallah-GPC alliance.
A leading Saudi-based news agency reported in early July that Tehran was coordinating Ansurallah military activities in Yemen through military advisers, one of which was killed inside the beleaguered state. Iran denied such allegations saying they were not based on facts.
Deputy Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian made remarks after Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV channel claimed that some Iranian military experts had been killed in fighting in Yemen. Iran has been a fierce critic of Saudi-led air strikes on Yemen, calling it a big strategic mistake. (Iran Times, July 4)
Amir-Abdollahian noted that the ongoing Saudi-GCC alliance’s war on the innocent Yemeni people represented instances of war crimes which have no justification.
This war of destruction and genocide is part and parcel of a broader strategy by U.S. imperialism to dominate the regions of the Middle East and North Africa. The development s in Yemen cannot be viewed independently of what has taken place in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Egypt where Washington’s interventions have left a trial of destruction, dislocation and death.
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