Houthis prevent UN official from entering Taiz

Houthi militias and their allies from the supporters of ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh prevented the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator from entering the besieged city of Taiz on Tuesday, Quds Press has reported.

Stephen O’Brien was invited by the city’s governor in order to look closely at the dire humanitarian situation of the residents, who have been living under a strict siege for two years.

According to the official Yemen news agency, the Houthi militias and their allies opened fire at O’Brien and his delegation while they were passing through the areas controlled by the Popular Committees (Houthis) and Saleh’s forces in the West of Taiz.

Read: Houthis and their allies destroy mosques and kidnap imams

The Yemeni news agency also said that the Houthis have been preventing the entry of humanitarian aid and medicine into the city. Shelling has killed and wounded a number of people, including women.

According to UNICEF, around 7.5 million Yemeni children are currently displaced and in dire need of proper healthcare. More than half of the healthcare facilities have stopped working.

In a related report, Amnesty International said on Tuesday that the Houthis recruit children below the age of 15 as child soldiers and use them in the frontline battles in the country. This, said Amnesty, is a “flagrant violation” of international law.