Displacement camps and health centres have been attacked during a surge in violence in Yemen between Saudi-backed government forces and Iran-backed Houthis, UN agencies said on Thursday, as the civilian death toll continues to rise.
The latest fighting marks a sharp escalation in Yemen's civil war, which had largely been frozen since a 2022 truce. It also reflects a widening conflict linked to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
Violence has flared along former front lines in recent weeks, including around Taiz, as Houthi forces moved south along the Red Sea coast.
More than 130,000 people have been displaced, with some fleeing across the Red Sea to Africa, according to the UN.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said his office had documented three attacks by Ansar Allah, the formal name for the Houthi movement, on sites housing internally displaced people since August.
The attacks on 7 August, 7 September and 9 September in the Marib region caused dozens of casualties and killed five children, Turk said.
His office has documented the deaths of 32 civilians, including 15 children and three women, since August in fighting that included drone and missile strikes.
The victims were among 125 people killed or wounded in the latest escalation, a figure Turk's office said was likely an undercount because of insecurity and limited access.
“Civilians are now bearing the brunt of this latest upsurge in fighting,” Turk said in a statement.
The World Health Organization said some health facilities had been “directly attacked” and that an ambulance driver and a medic were killed in Lahj on 18 September. It did not attribute blame for the attack.
Both sides have alleged that hundreds of people have been killed in fighting in recent weeks, without providing details.
Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam said the UN human rights office was no longer impartial and rejected its allegations. He accused Saudi forces of carrying out bombardments that targeted public facilities, including a correctional facility, homes and schools.
More than 70 UN staff members are being detained by the Houthis in Yemen, some of whom have been held for years. Turk called for their release and urged all parties to protect civilians, saying warnings of attacks did not remove their obligations to provide protection.
Saudi officials have repeatedly said their forces do not target civilians in Yemen. They did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Aid groups are increasing their response in a country where 18 million people, or roughly half the population, face acute food insecurity.
The World Health Organization has stepped up the distribution of medical supplies, including blood bags, trauma kits and surgical equipment, and is deploying emergency teams as injuries rise.
However, many people remain without adequate support. A UN refugee agency plan for Yemen was less than 20 per cent funded before the renewed violence caused humanitarian needs to surge.
Aisha Ahmed, an internally displaced mother of four, told Reuters at a camp in Taiz that the influx of people in recent weeks was causing shortages.
“We need water and everything else. We have nothing,” she said.
A building at Saudi Aramco’s headquarters in ...
Russian strikes killed ...
Argentina has asked the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, a judicial body which settles maritime disputes, to halt British-authorised ...
One person was killed and nearly a dozen hurt in a fresh attack on Riyadh's international airport on Sunday, Saudi authorities reported, a day after a strike claimed by Yemen's Houthis killed 13 people and wounded more than 300.
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said late Monday that it intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles launched by the Houthi group toward Khamis Mushait in southwestern Saudi Arabia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia hit at least six energy targets in deadly strikes across Ukraine, showing Moscow is unwilling to accept the energy ceasefire announced by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The Kremlin on Monday rejected a 60-day ceasefire idea proposed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to allow his country to hold presidential elections, saying it wanted an overall peace deal instead.
A building at Saudi Aramco’s headquarters in the eastern city of Dhahran was attacked late Tuesday, causing a limited fire, Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry said on Wednesday. The incident came as fighting between the kingdom and Yemen’s Iran-allied Houthi group intensify.
Russian strikes killed three people in Kyiv and plunged hundreds of thousands into darkness overnight, authorities said on Wednesday, in an attack President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called “ostentatious disrespect” to Donald Trump's peace effort.
Argentina has asked the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, a judicial body which settles maritime disputes, to halt British-authorised oil activity near the Falkland Islands, escalating a sovereignty dispute over the archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean.
Cornell University has prohibited parties and social gatherings at fraternity houses for the remainder of the academic year following allegations of a gang rape in 2024, as criticism mounts over the institution’s handling of the case.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will depart on Saturday (17 October) on a five-day trip to India and Uzbekistan, the State Department said, adding that he will discuss energy cooperation in India.
French riot police clashed with student protesters in Paris on Tuesday, using tear gas and water cannon and making arrests as demonstrations over school conditions continued across the country.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment