Saudi war turns Yemen back 100 years: ICRC

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has warned that the ongoing Saudi aggression against Yemen has turned the impoverished Arab country back 100 years, Press TV reported.

“The war and its results have turned Yemen back 100 years, due to the destruction of infrastructure… especially in the provinces of Aden, Dhalea and Ta’izz,” Claire Feghali told a Monday press conference in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

He added that the Saudi attacks against Yemen pushed the country into a catastrophic humanitarian situation.

“It’s a catastrophe, a humanitarian catastrophe,” he said, adding that providing Yemenis with international aid “was difficult enough before, but now there are just no words for how bad it’s gotten.”

Saudi Arabia launched its air campaign against Yemen on March 26 – without a United Nations mandate – in a bid to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement and to restore power to the country’s fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia has also been stopping ships and planes carrying aid to war-torn Yemen.

Yemeni officials have warned that the country is facing fuel, electricity and water shortages.

Reports say fuel prices have increased to USD 10 per liter in some parts of the oil-producing country.

The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) also said that hospitals in Yemen are in dire need of fuel to continue providing services to the people.

On April 21, Riyadh announced the end of the first phase of its unlawful military operations, which claimed the lives of nearly 1,000 people, but airstrikes have continued in the second phase with Saudi bombers targeting different areas across the country.

According to Yemen’s Health Ministry, the month-long Saudi aggression has killed nearly 150 children and around 100 women.

M.W