Yemen: Houthis blame Saudi-led coalition for death of conjoined twins

Yemen’s Houthis have blamed the Saudi-led coalition for the death of conjoined twins after they were refused permission to leave the country for medical treatment.

The twins died on Saturday in Yemeni capital Sanaa due to a lack of medical capacity to treat them. Sabaa news agency said the Yemeni health ministry was holding the Saudi-led coalition responsible for the twins’ death, after its forces refused to open Sanaa airport to take the children abroad for treatment.

A health official in Sanaa called on Wednesday to allow two-week-old Abd Al-Khaleq and Abd Al-Rahim to be transferred abroad for treatment, but these calls were not heeded.

“We hope to move these two children as soon as possible to save their lives,” said Dr. Faisal Al-Babali, head of the paediatrics department at Al-Thawra hospital in Sanaa. Al-Babali explained that the health sector in Yemen has collapsed because of the war, and his department lacked the equipment and medical staff needed to separate the twins.

Houthi rebels are continuing to demand that Sanaa airport be reopened to civil aviation.

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