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Cluster munitions killed at least 37 Yemenis in August: Watchdog

Sunday, 03 September 2023 7:35 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 03 September 2023 7:39 AM ]

In this file picture, remnants of cluster munitions and unexploded BLU-97 submunitions air-dropped by the Saudi-led military coalition are found in the al-Nushoor and al-Maash areas of Yemen’s northern province of Sa’ada. (Via social media)

Cluster bombs and unexploded ordnance used by the Saudi-led military coalition during its onslaught on Yemen took the lives of dozens of civilians last month, according to the Yemen Executive Mine Action Centre (YEMAC).

YEMAC, in a statement issued on Saturday night, announced that 37 civilians, including 12 children, were killed throughout August as a result of the explosion of controversial cluster munitions.

The center criticized the United Nations for the suspension of funding for minefield clearing operations in Yemen for the second straight month.

The UN withdrew the financial support despite the availability of funding from the Yemen Humanitarian Fund (YHF), it added.

YEMAC went on to add that it has contacted senior officials from the world body in the hopes of resolving the issue, but its requests have gone unanswered so far.

108 Yemenis killed by mines, cluster bombs, other war remnants since truce: Report

Report says 108 Yemenis have been killed by landmines, cluster bombs, and other fatal remnants of war since a UN-brokered truce came into effect in April.

The center also stressed that the continuation of the current situation will result in the maiming of a great number of Yemenis, especially children.

Saudi Arabia initiated a brutal war of aggression against Yemen in March 2015, enlisting the assistance of some of its regional allies, including the United Arab Emirates, as well as massive shipments of advanced weaponry from the US and Western Europe.

The Western governments further extended their political and logistical support to Riyadh in their failed bid to restore power in Yemen to the country’s former Saudi-installed government.

The former Yemeni government’s president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, resigned from the presidency in late 2014 and later fled to Riyadh amid a political conflict with Ansarullah. The movement has been running Yemen’s affairs in the absence of a functioning administration.

The war further led to the killing of tens of thousands of Yemenis and turned the entire nation into the scene of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

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