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.
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