Press. voanews.com
One million
people across three Yemeni cities are at risk of a renewed cholera outbreak and
other water-borne diseases following the closing of airports and sea ports by a
Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen's Shiite rebels, an international aid group
said on Friday.
The
International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement that the cities of
Hodeida, Saada and Taiz were not able to provide clean water in recent days due
to a lack of fuel.
"Close to
one million people are now deprived of clean water and sanitation in crowded
urban environments in a country slowly emerging from the worst cholera outbreak
in modern times," said Alexander Faite, head of the Red Cross delegation
in the war-ravaged nation.
The Red Cross
said other major urban cities, including the capital Sanaa, will find
themselves in the same situation in less than two weeks unless imports of
essential goods resume immediately. The U.S.-backed
coalition imposed a land, sea and air blockade on November 6th after a missile attack
by rebels targeted the Saudi capital Riyadh. Saudi Arabia said Monday the
coalition would lift the blockade after widespread international criticism.
On Thursday,
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrote to Saudi Arabia's U.N. ambassador
saying the Gulf kingdom's failure to reopen key Yemen airports and sea ports is
reversing humanitarian efforts to tackle the crisis in the impoverished
country. U.N. spokesman
Stephane Dujarric said Guterres welcomed the reopening of the port in the city
of Aden, however he said this "will not meet the needs of 28 million
Yemenis."
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