UN Ban Ki-moon warns that fuel shortage may halt relief in Yemen

The United Nations chief has warned that a dire shortage of fuel in Yemen may bring all relief operations to a halt as more and more people fall victim to Saudi Arabia’s indiscriminate air attacks on the country. 
Ban Ki-moon warned Thursday that the aid and relief operation could be stopped “within days” if the delivery of fuel is not immediately restored. 
“Humanitarian operations will end within days unless fuel supplies are restored,” Ban said in a statement, urging an “immediate resumption of fuel imports to avoid making the already catastrophic humanitarian situation in Yemen even worse.”

A displaced Yemeni eats yogurt in a man-made underground water tunnel where her family has taken shelter after their house was destroyed by Saudi airstrikes, in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, April 30, 2015. © AFP
The fuel shortage has already left its impact on the distribution of aid to the affected Yemeni people, with the World Food Program (WFP) saying earlier that it was halting its delivery of food aid to the needy across Yemen.
The WFP said severe shortage of fuel forced it to stop its distribution of food supplies already in its warehouses. The agency said that it urgently needs more than 200,000 liters of fuel to be able to proceed with the delivery of the existing supply which it said could feed at least 1.5 million people for one month. 
There has been an effective blockade on Yemen during the ongoing Saudi Arabia’s aggression, with airports being closed to civilian traffic and naval shipments experiencing numerous delays.
Thousands of Yemenis who have been affected by the violence are deprived of food, medicine and fuel due to the blockade.
Ban said there must be an immediate ceasefire, or at least, a humanitarian pauses in areas affected by the violence to make it possible to help those in need.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon © AFP

Riyadh launched its airstrikes against Yemen on March 26 without a United Nations mandate. Saudi Arabia aims to undermine the Ansarullah movement and restore power to fugitive former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, who is a staunch ally of Riyadh.
The regime’s warplanes have repeatedly targeted residential areas across the country.
On April 21, Riyadh announced the end of the first phase of its unlawful military operations, which claimed the lives of about 1,000 people; but airstrikes have continued with Saudi bombers targeting different areas across the country in a new phase.
Official Yemeni reports say nearly 250 women and children have been killed so far.