500 Yemen kids killed in 6 months of Saudi war: UN

The United Nations says over 500 Yemeni children have been killed and nearly two million people are at risk of malnutrition, some six months into the Saudi regime’s military campaign against the impoverished Arab nation.

Christophe Boulierac, spokesman for the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said on Friday that 505 children have been killed and 702 others wounded since late March, when Saudi Arabia unleashed deadly air raids on Yemen.

“The situation for children is deteriorating every single day, and it is horrific,” Boulierac said.

The UN official also warned of the dire humanitarian situation in the country, which has deteriorated since Riyadh started its military aggression in Yemen, with the aim of undermining the Houthi Ansarullah movement and restoring power to its ally, the country’s fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.

According to Boulierac, some 1.7 million Yemeni children are currently at risk of malnutrition.

The UNICEF spokesman further warned that if the situation is not addressed, the number of child deaths due to malnutrition could be higher than those killed in the conflict.

“We know that more children (could) die from preventable disease than from bullets and bombs,” he added.

He said the number of children with severe acute malnutrition in Yemen, a country with 80 percent of its population being under the age of 18, has tripled this year to 537,000.

Yemenis deplore Saudi aggression

On Friday, thousands of Yemenis held a demonstration in the capital, Sana’a, in protest against Saudi Arabia’s ongoing aggression, which has killed nearly 6,400 people already, according to Yemen’s Civil Coalition.

The protesters also voiced solidarity with the families of victims of pilgrims who lost their lives in during the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia launched its military aggression against Yemen on March 26, without a United Nations mandate.

Riyadh’s military has also imposed an all-out blockade on the flow of relief aid to the war-stricken people of Yemen, further complicating the humanitarian crisis in the Arabian Peninsula state.

Saudis derail probe of abuses in Yemen

This comes as a European-backed UN resolution seeking an investigation into rights abuses in Yemen was withdrawn, as a result of opposition by Riyadh.

However, a watered-down proposal by Saudi Arabia, which supported a domestic probe, was adopted by the UN after receiving support from the United States and Britain.

The US and the UK have been criticized by human rights groups for supporting Riyadh in its war against the country.

Amnesty International has accused Saudi Arabia of targeting and killing civilians in the Arabian Peninsula country by using US-made weapons.

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