Genocide in Yemen

Saudi-led coalition exposing Yemeni population to a ‘deadly combination of violence, disease and deprivation’

The following statement is attributable to the UNICEF Representative in Yemen

 “With no end in sight to the deadly conflict in Yemen, nearly 10 million children inside the country are now facing a new year of pain and suffering.

“Continuous bombardment and street fighting are exposing children and their families to a deadly combination of violence, disease and deprivation.

“The direct impact of the conflict on children is hard to measure. The statistics confirmed by the UN (747 children killed and another 1,108 injured since March last year; 724 children pressed into some form of military activity) tell only part of the story. But they are shocking enough in themselves.

“The broader effects of the violence on innocent civilians extend much further. Children make up at least half of the 2.3 million people estimated to have been displaced from their homes, and of the more than 19 million people struggling to get water on a daily basis; 1.3 million children under five face the risk of acute malnutrition and acute respiratory tract infections. And at least 2 million children cannot go to school.

“Public services like health, water and sanitation have been decimated and cannot meet the ever-increasing needs of a desperate population. Few of the 7.4 million children requiring protection (including psycho-social support to help deal with the effects of their exposure to violence) will actually receive it.

“The longer-term consequences of all this for Yemen — which was already the Middle East’s poorest nation even before the conflict — can only be guessed at.

Record Afghan casualties exceeded 11,000 in 2015

Violence in Afghanistan left more than 11,000 dead or wounded last year, making 2015 a record year for  civilian casualties, reported the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

The casualties (3,545 killed and 7,457 wounded) included an unprecedented number of children, with one in four casualties being a child, UNAMA reported Sunday.

“This report records yet another rise in the number of civilians hurt or killed. The harm done to civilians is totally unacceptable,” said a senior UN official.

Afghan Civilian Casualties to Reach 10,000 in 2014 – UN

Afghanistan civilian casualties: 3,188 killed, 6,429 wounded (Jan-Nov 2014)

The number of civilian casualties in Afghanistan is forecast to top 10,000, the highest annual casualty figure on record, says UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

With 3,188 civilian deaths and 6,429 injuries in the first 11 months of 2014, the mission warns that by year’s end the number of victims is likely to top 10,000, the highest since 2009, when the UNAMA began keeping records, and a rise of 19 percent compared with 2013.

Most of the casualties, more than 75 percent, is blamed on “the insurgent groups,” while pro-Government forces were responsible for about 12 percent of civilian casualties, said the Director of Human Rights at UNAMA.

The latest data shows an increase of 33 percent in children casualties and 14 percent in women casualties, said the UN.

UNAMA has recorded a total of 17,252 civilian deaths and 29,536 injuries since it began keeping casualty records in 2009.

Global Disasters/ Significant Events – August 27, 2013

US “ready” to strike Syria: Hagel

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says the US military is ready to act on Syria.

“We have moved assets in place to be able to fulfill and comply with whatever option the president wishes to take,” Hagel told the BBC.

“I think it’s pretty clear that chemical weapons were used against people in Syria,” he said.

“I think the intelligence will conclude that it wasn’t the rebels who used it, and there’ll probably be pretty good intelligence to show is that the Syria government was responsible. But we’ll wait and determine what the facts and the intelligence bear out.”

John Kerry…

“What we saw in Syria last week should shock the conscience of the world. It defies any code of morality,” Mr Kerry said at a news conference on Monday.

“Make no mistake, President Obama believes there must be accountability for those who would use the world’s most heinous weapons against the world’s most vulnerable people.”

President Assad

Syrian President Bashar Assad told Russia’s Izvestia newspaper that claims of his government using chemical weapons made by Western countries are “an insult to common sense” and “nonsense.”

“The statements made by the politicians in the USA and in other Western countries represent an insult to common sense and neglect of the public opinion of citizens in those countries. It’s nonsense: first, they bring charges, and then they collect evidence. And it’s one of the most powerful countries that does it – the US. They accused us on Wednesday, and in only two days the American leadership announces they started to collect the evidence.… They accuse our army of using chemical weapons in the area that’s reportedly controlled by the terrorists. In fact, there is no precise front line between the army and the insurgents in that area. And how can a government use chemical weapons – or any other weapons of mass destruction – in the area where government troops are concentrated? This is against elementary logic,” said Assad.

Vladimir Putin

President Putin has told the British PM that Russia did not have any evidence whether a chemical weapons attack had occurred or who was responsible, according to an official statement.

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Other Disasters/ Significant Events

Afghanistan

At least 43 people, including a dozen civilians, were killed in Afghanistan over the last 24 hours, authorities said on Tuesday.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has documented 1,319 civilian deaths and 2,533 injuries—a total of 3,852 civilian casualties—in the first half of 2013.

The total represents an increase of 14 per cent in deaths and 28 per cent in injuries over the same period in 2012, said UNAMA.

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Swollen Heilong river triggers widespread, persistent floods in NE China

Original caption: The aerial photo taken on Aug. 26, 2013 shows houses [and vast tracts of crops and farmland] inundated by floods along the Tongjiang-Fuyuan river section of the Heilong River in northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province. The Heilong River has swelled since mid-August, with some sections of its middle and lower reaches seeing their worst floods in history.(Xinhua/Ma Ling). More images…

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TS FERNAND leaves at least 13 people dead in E. Mexico

At least 13 people were killed Monday after landslides triggered by torrential rains from tropical storm FERNAND destroyed or damaged more than 100 homes in the eastern Mexican state of Veracruz, officials said.

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