Yemen gov’t urges UN intervention to lift rebel siege on Marib

By Aziz al-Ahmadi
SANAA, Yemen (AA) – The Yemeni government on Monday called for UN intervention to lift a rebel siege on the central Marib province.

This came in a phone call between Yemeni Foreign Minister Ahmed bin Mubarak and the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen, David Gressly.

Talks between the two sides dwelt on the "catastrophic humanitarian situation for tens of thousands of Yemenis in Al-Abdiyah district in Marib due to the siege imposed by Houthi rebels”, the official news agency Saba reported.

Bin Mubarak accused the Houthi group of refusing to allow food and medicine into the district and evacuate the injured from the area.

There was no comment from the Houthi group on the accusation.

Houthi rebels have slapped a siege on Al-Abdiyah district, amid fighting with Yemeni government forces, backed by the Saudi-led coalition.

Yemen has been engulfed by violence and instability since 2014, when Iran-aligned Houthi rebels captured much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

A Saudi-led coalition aimed at reinstating the Yemeni government has worsened the situation, causing one of the world’s worst man-made humanitarian crises with 233,000 people killed, nearly 80% or about 30 million needing humanitarian assistance and protection, and more than 13 million in danger of starvation, according to UN estimates.

Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara