Russia and the Red Cross on Saturday appealed for a military pause in Yemen to allow urgent humanitarian aid deliveries and evacuation of civilians, after 10 days of Saudi-led airstrikes and fighting in which hundreds of people have died.
Russia distributed a draft resolution at the UN pressing for suspensions of the airstrikes to allow for the evacuation of foreign civilians and diplomats, and demanding rapid and unhindered humanitarian access.
The International Committee of the Red Cross called for an immediate pause in hostilities to deliver life-saving medical aid, saying three of its shipments remained blocked.
“All air, land and sea routes must be opened without delay for at least 24 hours to enable help to reach people cut off after more than a week of intense airstrikes and fierce ground fighting nationwide,” the Red Cross said in a statement.
The UN said more than 500 people have been killed in the past two weeks in Yemen and nearly 1,700 wounded.
Residents in Aden said parts of the southern port city had been without water or electricity for two days.
There was no sign of a halt in the fighting.
Aden residents said ships from the Saudi-led coalition bombarded Houthi forces who have taken over districts close to the center of the city despite Riyadh’s military campaign in support of their foe, Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
A military spokesman for the Saudi coalition said it was providing substantial logistical support for Hadi’s fighters. He declined to confirm or deny reports that Saudi special forces were operating in Aden.
However, a fighter in Aden, Khaled Ahmed Saif, appealed on local television for the coalition to send ground troops as soon as possible, saying the city was being subjected to a “genocidal war” by the Houthis.
Late on Saturday, Houthi forces entered the central Aden district of Mualla, where the port is, and witnesses reported heavy fighting.
Residents said life was becoming unbearable.
“How long can people live without water or electricity?” Mohammed Fara’a said.
Coalition spokesman Brigadier General Ahmed Asseri, when asked about the calls for a humanitarian pause, said only that the military was ready for any instructions from its political leadership. He said aid agencies and governments should coordinate aid shipments with officials in Riyadh.
The conflict in Yemen has turned the impoverished Arabian Peninsula state into the latest theater for Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia’s proxy war with regional Shiite rival Iran, a struggle that is also playing out in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq.
Tehran denies Riyadh’s charges that its arms the Houthis, who emerged as the country’s most powerful faction when they took over the capital six months ago together with supporters of former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Saudi Arabia launched military attacks on March 26. Saudi jets have been backed by planes from its Gulf Arab neighbors.
The United Arab Emirates state news agency said 100 Saudi aircraft were taking part, along with 30 from the UAE, 15 each from Bahrain and Kuwait and 10 from Qatar.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from