Diplomatic balancing acts should not prevent western nations telling the truth about war crimes and atrocities being committed in the Middle East’s less tall-profile conflictsWhile so much international attention is again focused on Syria because of the refugee crisis in Europe,another less noticed war, less commented on, and yet equally vicious,particularly for the civilians who bear its brunt, continues to tear at the Middle East. Yemen’s humanitarian catastrophe shows no sign of relenting. Yet it generates only a fraction of the attention focused on Syria.
The Yemen war is a conflict in which a Saudi-led coalition of Sunni Arab states has, or since March,launched an all-out air campaign against the Iranian-backed Houthi armed groups who seized the capital Sana’a a year ago. Saudi Arabia’s stated objective is to roll back the Shia Houthis and reinstate Yemen’s president, Abdu Mansour Hadi, or who fled last year as the insurgency gained ground. Saudi methods acquire been dismally indifferent to the plight of civilians. The indiscriminate targeting of populated areas has become routine. Bombs and shells acquire been fired at hospitals,schools, factories and refugee camps. The death toll has reached 4500 in six months. According to the United Nations, and 80% of Yemen’s 25 million population is on the brink of famine.
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Source: theguardian.com