Saudi War in Yemen Starving Huge Numbers of Children

320,000 Children Face Severe Malnutrition

by Jason Ditz, 

A new report from UNICEF marking the one-year anniversary of the Saudi war against Yemen details the massive toll the war, and the ongoing naval blockade of Yemen, is inflicting on Yemeni children.

The report estimates some 320,000 children are facing severe, life-threatening malnutrition, and that some 82% of the Yemeni population is reliant on humanitarian aid at this point. Before the war, Yemen imported some 90% of its food from abroad.

Though the Saudi-led naval blockade, which the US has participated in, was nominally meant to prevent weapons shipments to the country, protracted delays for all ships trying to make deliveries has shipping companies avoiding taking Yemen-bound jobs.

Though the UN eventually started scaling up humanitarian shipments to Yemen after the war began, the Saudis have ensured that those shipments are predominantly to Saudi-held territory, with the Shi’ite regions getting little support.

http://news.antiwar.com/2016/03/29/saudi-war-in-yemen-starving-huge-numbers-of-children/