UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Doctors Without Borders (MSF) have expressed concern over the damage caused to the runways at Sanaa International Airport and an airport in the city of Hodeida 140 miles west of the country's capital, the ICRC said in a press release Monday.
"[We are] extremely concerned about the severe damage caused by recent Coalition attacks on airports in Sana'a and Hodeida, obstructing delivery of much needed humanitarian assistance and movement of humanitarian personnel," the international medical humanitarian organizations said in a joint statement.
"Sana'a airport was an essential civilian infrastructure, and the main lifeline to supply essential humanitarian goods and services. The harsh restrictions on importations imposed by the Coalition for the past six weeks, added to the extreme fuel shortages, have made the daily lives of Yemenis unbearable, and their suffering immense," Schweizer was quoted as saying in the statement.
The Arab country has been plunged into political turmoil since the beginning of anti-government uprisings in the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring. The hostilities in the country escalated when the Houthi rebel group, the country's main opposition group, began quick advances in several locations across the country, forcing the incumbent president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi to flee.
The humanitarian situation worsened in Yemen amid Saudi-led coalition airstrikes and battles between Houthi militants and forces loyal to Hadi.
According to UN estimates, over 1,200 people have been killed, while 300,000 have fled their homes in Yemen in the past six weeks, amid ongoing ground fighting, aerial bombardments and sniper attacks on civilians.
