More than 6,800 civilians have been killed in Yemen since the escalation of conflict in March 2015, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said in a statement on Saturday.
GENEVA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th November, 2018) More than 6,800 civilians have been killed in Yemen since the escalation of conflict in March 2015, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said in a statement on Saturday."The UN Human Rights Office has documented that between 26 March 2015 and 8 November 2018, there have been a total of 17,640 civilian casualties in Yemen, including 6,872 dead and 10,768 injured," the press release read.
A total of 10,852 of these casualties resulted from airstrikes carried out by the Saudi-led coalition, according to the press release.
"The parties to the conflict must allow the free, regular and unimpeded passage of food and other humanitarian relief and must not take actions that would deprive civilians of their rights to food and health," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet was quoted as saying in the press release.
Bachelet also called on the parties to the conflict in Yemen to stop the escalation of violence and respect international humanitarian law.
"The Saudi-led Coalition and pro-Hadi forces, the Houthi forces - and those who supply arms or other support to the parties to the conflict - all have the power or the influence to stop the starvation and killing of civilians, to give some reprieve to the people of Yemen. Violations by one party to the conflict do not give carte blanche to the others to fight back at all costs," she stressed.
Yemen has been gripped by the civil war with the government headed by President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi fighting the Houthi movement. The government is backed by the Saudi-led coalition that has been carrying out airstrikes targeting the areas controlled by the Houthis since March 2015.
