Calgary UN Envoy Paints Grim Picture Of Political, Economic And Humanitarian Crisis In Yemen | HuffPost Latest News - Action.News ABC Action News WestNet-HD Weather Traffic

UNITED NATIONS (AP) The United Nations warned Tuesday that an offensive by Houthi rebels in Yemen has escalated the nearly six-year conflict in the Arab worlds poorest nation as it speeds towards a massive famine.

U.N. special envoy Martin Griffiths and U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock painted a grim picture of the political, economic and humanitarian crisis in Yemen, which is exacerbated by a government blockade of fuel ships entering the countrys main port of Hodeida controlled by the Houthis.

The intensified fighting has come amid an international and regional diplomatic push to end the conflict which began with the 2014 takeover of the capital Sanaa by the Iranian-backed Houthis. A Saudi-led coalition supported by the U.S. and allied with the government has been fighting the rebels since March 2015.

Yemen: \"I see shocking reports of children increasingly getting drawn into the war effort and deprived of their future.\"@OSE_Yemen Martin Griffiths briefed the Security Council on the dire situation in the country. https://t.co/ZlwHxGB0lx

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Yemen: "I see shocking reports of children increasingly getting drawn into the war effort and deprived of their future."@OSE_Yemen Martin Griffiths briefed the Security Council on the dire situation in the country. https://t.co/ZlwHxGB0lx
United Nations (@UN) March 17, 2021

President Joe Biden s envoy to Yemen, Tim Lenderking, last week urged the Houthis to agree to a cease-fire proposal.

Griffiths told the U.N. Security Council the Houthis weeks-long offensive on the oil-rich central province of Marib, the governments last stronghold in Yemens northern half, has put an estimated one million already displaced civilians at risk. Fighting forces on both sides have suffered heavy losses, he said.

Missile and drone strikes from Houthi-controlled areas into Saudi Arabia targeting civilian and commercial infrastructure have also increased significantly in recent weeks, Griffiths said. And retaliatory airstrikes on Sanaa city are endangering civilians there as well.

Griffiths said other fronts have also opened, with government forces earlier this month launching an offensive against rebel positions in western Hajjah province, and fighting in the government-held southern province of Taiz.

The result has been a dramatic deterioration in the conflict, he said.

In addition to the suffering of Yemenis, Griffiths called for an independent investigation into the cause of last weeks fire at a Houthi detention center in Sanaa holding predominantly Ethiopian migrants that killed dozens and seriously injured over 170.

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On the humanitarian front, Yemen, which imports most of its food and other commodities, remains the worlds worst crisis.

Both Griffiths and Lowcock urged the entry of fuel ships to Hodeida, warning that the blockade since January has increased prices of food and other goods and put hospitals and other services, including water which needs fuel for its pumps, at risk.

Right now, 13 fuel ships are waiting outside Hodeida, carrying two months of imports, Lowcock said, explaining that the government isnt clearing them because of a dispute with the Houthis over revenue from the fees and taxes on the oil ships.

Despite the recent escalation in fighting in Marib and elsewhere, Lowcock told the Security Council that the renewed U.S. commitment to a diplomatic solution has opened a window for anyone who is serious about ending the war.

He again warned that Yemen is speeding towards a massive famine and said that opportunity will be wasted if Yemen tips into famine.

So, I again call on everyone to do everything you can including money for the aid operation to stop the famine, the undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs said.

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