Saudi Arabia Bombs Grain Port in Yemen

The US-backed Saudi-led coalition continues to launch airstrikes across Yemen. Over the past few days, Saudi bombs have hit the capital Sanaa, Maarib province, and the Red Sea port of Salif.

On Monday, the UN said the airstrikes in Salif targeted a grain port and hit a warehouse and the living quarters of a food production company. “Local authorities and company management stated that six injured workers were transferred to local medical facilities for treatment,” the UN mission in Hodeidah, Yemen, said in a statement.

According to the Houthis Al-Masirah, the bombing in Salif killed at least one of the grain company’s workers and injured six more. Salif lies to the northwest of Hodeidah and is inside the UN-brokered neutral zone as per a deal signed in Stockholm in 2018. But bombings around Hodeidah and violations of the Stockholm agreement are a regular occurrence.

Bombing food targets is nothing new for the US-backed Saudi-led coalition. The frequent targeting of civilian infrastructure, along with the blockade, has led to mass starvation in the country. According to the UN, if conditions do not change, 400,000 Yemeni children will starve to death this year.

The continued airstrikes come after President Biden vowed to end all US support for Riyadh’s “offensive” operations in Yemen. It’s not clear if the US is providing support for these latest bombings. So far, Biden has not pressured the Saudis to stop enforcing the blockade on Yemen, which is doing nothing but denying food and fuel to the starving civilian population. On Monday, the Saudis presented a new ceasefire proposal to the Houthis that would only partially lift the blockade by opening Sanaa airport for certain flights.