Saudi Attacks Halt Aid Flights Into Yemen Capital

UN says airport no longer able to receive aid

The large civilian toll in the Saudi War in Yemen has been driven in large part by the Saudis heavily restricting access to humanitarian aid in the impoverished country. Today, the UN announced that they are halting all aid flights into the capital of Sanaa.

In the past couple of days, Saudi Arabia warned aid groups away from the airport, then attacked the airport. This further restricts ways of getting supplies into north Yemen after destroying most of the seaports and heavily limiting the ships in the area.

All through the war, food has been in short supply in Yemen, and medicine often undergoes shortages that kill those with chronic health conditions. The shortages are far worse in the Houthi north, as the Saudis restrict naval travel into the last port of Hodeidah.

The Saudis have netted international criticism over the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, though this has not slowed down the war, or the policy of striking aid entry points.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.