By Fatih Erel
GENEVA (AA) – April was the deadliest month this year so far with a “sharp ” increase in civilian casualties in Yemen with more than 230 deaths, UN warned Friday.
“The month of April was the deadliest month for civilians in Yemen so far this year, with a sharp increase in casualties. At least 236 civilians were killed and 238 injured in Yemen in April — a total of 474 civilian casualties, well over double the 180 civilian casualties documented in March this year, ” said Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Speaking at a news conference in Geneva, Shamdasani said six civilians were killed and 57 injured in the first week of May, warning that heavy death toll in the country continued in May as well.
“We are deeply concerned about the sharp increase in civilian casualties and call, again, on all parties to the conflict to respect international humanitarian law, ” she said.
According to UN, a total of at least 6,385 civilians have been killed, and 10,047 injured since the start of the Yemeni conflict in March 2015.
“The vast majority of these 10,185 civilian casualties were as a result of airstrikes carried out by the Saudi-led Coalition, ” she said.
Yemen has been wracked by violence and chaos since 2014, when Shia Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including capital Sanaa.
The conflict escalated in 2015 when Saudi Arabia and its Sunni-Arab allies — who accuse the Houthis of serving as Iranian proxies — launched a massive air campaign in Yemen aimed at rolling back Houthi gains.
