Yemen Violence Taking Intolerable Toll on Kids: UNICEF

74 children killed, 44 others maimed amid escalating conflict in Yemen

The escalating conflict in Yemen is taking an intolerable toll on children, as they continue to be killed, injured, displaced and put at increasing risk from disease, UNICEF said in a statement.

At least 74 children are among the 600 killed in Yemen since the fighting began on March 26. Some 44 other children, who have been maimed, are among the 1,700 victims who have been wounded in the past 12 days.

However, these are conservative figures, said UNICEF, adding that it believes the total number of children killed is much higher because the conflict has intensified over the past week.

“Children are paying an intolerable price for this conflict.” said UNICEF Yemen Representative Julien Harneis speaking from the Jordanian capital Amman. “They are being killed, maimed and forced to flee their homes, their health threatened and their education interrupted. These children should be immediately afforded special respect and protection by all parties to the conflict, in line with international humanitarian law.”

An estimated 150,000 people across the war-torn country have fled their homes in search of safety.

Saudi Arabia together with four other Gulf states and Egypt have been conducting airstrikes against the Houthi rebels, who are fighting the “corrupt government” in Yemen.

Meantime, Jordan, Morocco, Pakistan and Sudan (!), have also expressed their willingness to participate in the military operation.

[It’s not yet clear IF/WHEN Burma and Thailand would also join the military operation!!]

What Experts Say: Yemen is on the verge of “total collapse”

“The Sunni versus Shi’a sectarian narrative misrepresents Yemenis’ multiple proclivities for partisan, regional and class-based leadership. If anything, the escalating war pits the billionaire royal elites of the Gulf against the downtrodden of the Peninsula. Bombardments are both terrifying and deadly. Attacks on al-Mazraq camp for internally displaced persons in Hajjah governorate, a dairy factory near Hodeida and other locations have left dozens of non-combatants dead, according to human rights groups. The UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, says ‘the country seems to be on the verge of total collapse,'” said Prof. Sheila Carapico, Dept of Political Science and International Studies, University of Richmond in Virginia.