UN says any escalation of fighting will send war-torn Yemen back to square one

By Betul Yuruk

UNITED NATIONS (AA) - The United Nations warned Tuesday that a renewal of hostilities in Yemen will have devastating consequences for the people of the war-torn country after a nationwide cease-fire expired on Oct. 2.

Yemen's warring sides failed to reach an agreement to extend the UN-brokered truce in April.

Reena Ghelani, director of operations for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told the Security Council that any escalation of fighting will send Yemen back to square one.

''People in Yemen need a return to normalcy so they can rebuild their fractured lives,'' she said.

Ghelani said hunger continues to haunt more than half the population in Yemen and that 17 million people still do not know where they will get their next meal.

UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said the Houthis have carried out attacks in recent weeks against oil terminals and ports in Hadramawt and Shabwa governorates, depriving the government of its main source of revenue from exporting oil.

''These attacks -- the last of which occurred yesterday in Al-Dabba Port in Hadramawt -- have significant economic repercussions, he said. ''They risk setting off a spiral of military and economic escalation.''

He called on the parties to urgently reach an agreement to renew the truce.

The civil war began in September 2014, when Iranian-backed Houthi rebels captured much of the country, including the capital, Sana’a. A military coalition led by Saudi Arabia entered the war in early 2015 to restore the government to power.

The eight-year conflict has created one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, with millions risking starvation.