Yemen calls for suspension of arms sales to Saudi Arabia amid war crimes

Yemen has slammed the United Nations for keeping silent in the face of Saudi war crimes in the country, calling for an end to arms sales to Riyadh after the regime and its allies massacred dozens of civilians, including children, in al-Jawf Province.

In a statement carried by Yemen’s al-Masirah TV channel on Wednesday, the Yemeni Foreign Ministry said that some 16,700 civilians, including 3,750 children and 2,370 women, have been killed and around 26,100 injured since the beginning of the Saudi-led war in 2015.

Thousands of citizens, it added, have lost their lives due to an inhumane Saudi blockade that has caused different diseases and prolonged starvation among Yemeni population.

The ministry also referred to the recent Saudi-led strikes on a residential area in the northern province of al-Jawaf, saying the raids left 31 civilians dead.

The bloodshed came just weeks after the UN, in a highly contentious move, took the Saudi regime off its list of child killers.

“Unfortunately, the Saudi crimes against the Yemeni people go on for the sixth consecutive year, and they will continue as long as the international community and world powers remain silent in the face of the atrocities and massacres against the innocent Yemeni citizens,” read the statement.

It also complained that the United Nations Security Council has failed to address the Saudi bloodshed in Yemen while it spends time discussing minor issues.

Foreign Ministry officials one again condemn the horrific crimes of the Saudi-led coalition and underscore the need for suspending arms exports to the Riyadh regime, read the statement.

It further called on the international community, legal organizations and the Security Council to take practical steps to ensure the security of Yemeni people instead of being an accomplice in the murder of the oppressed nation.

Other Yemeni ministries also issued similar statements in condemnation of Wednesday's raids.

According to the Yemeni Health Ministry, most of the victims of Wednesday’s Saudi strikes on Jawf were women and children.

Yemen bombardment: Saudi-led warplanes target residences, kill civilians

At least nine civilians have been killed in fresh Saudi-led airstrikes against a residential area in Yemen’s northern province of al-Jawf.

The attack came three days after a similar aerial assault in the northwestern Hajjah province that killed at least seven children and two women.

The humanitarian group Save the Children denounced the latest Saudi air raids in Yemen.

“These attacks not only threaten children lives directly, but also the lifesaving humanitarian work and efforts to battle the coronavirus outbreak which many health workers say is spreading out of control amid minimal testing,” said Xavier Joubert, Save the Children’s country director in Yemen.

 Saudi Arabia waged a devastating military aggression against its southern neighbor in March 2015 in collaboration with a number of its allied states, and with arms support from certain Western countries.

The purported aim was to return to power a Riyadh-backed former regime and defeat the Houthi Ansarullah movement that took control of state matters after the resignation of the then president and his government.

The UN refers to the situation in Yemen as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with more than half of hospitals and clinics destroyed or closed.

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