Hours after the UN Security Council heralded the success of the handover of Hodeidah port as a vital step in the peace process, intensive airstrikes launched on Sana’a this morning have shattered any glimmer of hope for peace in the near future
“We woke this morning to a terrifying storm of bombs in Sana’a, one of which fell not far from our house rattling the windows and floors,” says CARE’s Alexandra Hilliard in Sana’a. “We could see smoke rising from the mountains across the city. We heard later that almost an entire family was killed in a residential area. It’s tragic to think that this family who went to sleep last night will never wake up again.”
Thursday morning saw 19 airstrikes on Sana’a, leaving an estimated seven people dead – including four children – and 58 injured, including women. There have been 20,000 airstrikes in Yemen since the conflict escalated in March 2015. According to the UN, well over 200,000 people have been killed by fighting, malnutrition, disease and lack of basic services due to the war. A child dies every twelve minutes.
“As airstrikes, landmines and ground fighting continue to kill innocent people across Yemen, the peace process appears increasingly fragile,” says Hilliard. “CARE urges all parties to the conflict to consider the enormous toll faced by the men, women and children of Yemen. That this has happened during Ramadan, the holiest month in the Muslim calendar, makes these attacks all the more horrifying.”
CARE has worked in Yemen since 1992 and is one of few international aid agencies continuing to deliver humanitarian services in Yemen. CARE staff are working tirelessly to ensure that people in the hardest-hit and most hard-to-reach areas have access to emergency supplies to help them meet their basic needs.