Preliminary reports said that 13 people were killed and at least 70 others wounded in clashes in Yemen’s Aden and Abyan governorates in the past two days, according to UN spokesman on Thursday.
Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said that streets in Aden are empty and flights to and from the airport are temporarily suspended, Xinhua news agency reported.
UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen Lise Grande on called on everyone who is fighting to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law.
Dujarric said this year’s humanitarian response plan requires 4.2 billion U.S. dollars, but only 34 per cent is funded.
The program assists more than 20 million Yemenis, including 10 million people who have relied entirely on humanitarian assistance to meet their basic needs, he said.
The attack is a major escalation in a three-week struggle for Aden between the Yemeni government and the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC), which is backed by the UAE.
Yemen’s deputy foreign minister, Mohammed Abdullah al-Hadram, said in a tweet that the Yemeni government held the UAE responsible for the “explicit extra-judicial targeting”, adding that the strikes had also killed several civilians.
Dujarric said if donation pledges are not met soon, 22 major programs could be closed in the coming weeks.
(With IANS inputs)