Millions of Yemenis edging closer to famine and disease, charity says
A Saudi-led coalition has been fighting Iranian-backed Houthi rebels since March 2015.
A charity has warned that millions of Yemenis are edging closer to famine and fatal disease one year after a Saudi-led coalition imposed a blockade on sea, land and air routes into the Arab world’s poorest country.
Jan Egeland of the Norwegian Refugee Council said “the past 12 months have been a never-ending nightmare for Yemeni civilians”.
The Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-backed Shia Houthi rebels had restricted access to Yemen in November last year after a missile assault by rebels targeted the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
The coalition has been at war with the Houthis since March 2015 in a conflict that has generated the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
The Norwegian charity said the war has left 12 million people at imminent risk of descending into famine.