Sana’a: Saudi Arabia pledged yesterday to cover the entire $274m in humanitarian aid sought by the UN for conflict-torn Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition has been bombing Shia rebels for three weeks.
The United Nations says hundreds of people have died and thousands of families fled their homes in the war, which has also killed six Saudi security personnel in border skirmishes.
At least 27 people died in the southwestern city of Taez during overnight clashes between loyalist forces and the Iran-backed Shia Houthi rebels, as well as in coalition air raids, medical
sources said.
That followed strikes by coalition warplanes on Friday around the Houthi rebel-held capital Sana’a, where thick clouds of grey smoke and a fireball rose from one military post.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia ordered the humanitarian pledge following a United Nations appeal on Friday for $274m in emergency assistance for the millions affected by Yemen’s war.
The kingdom “stands with its Yemeni brothers” and hopes for “the restoration of security and stability”, the state Saudi Press Agency said, quoting an official statement. AFP
