The United Nations Office of the Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen reported that on 12 December 2020, the Taizz City experienced a new shameful attack on civilians. The recent attack has been carried out in a sports centre, which was hit by artillery shelling, killing a father and a son. Local media reported that the victims were a Yemeni ex football captain, who was training children, when he was killed by a shell, along with his son. The government blamed the Houthi militia for the attack, which injured two additional children who were taking part in the training.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time that residents of Taizz witness such acts of violence, especially directed at children. As stated by Mr. Philippe Duamelle, Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen, “children continue to pay the highest price in this conflict, and far too often they are paying with their lives”, as also underlined by our recent article.

The UN Statement recently issued also provides current estimates on Yemen’s humanitarian situation. In more details, Yemen remains the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with nearly 80% of the population (more than 24 million people) requiring humanitarian assistance and protection. As of 13 December 2020, only half of the US$3.2 billion needed for the humanitarian response in 2020 had been received.

To know more, please read:

https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/HC_statement_TaizzCity_13122020.pdf

https://www.yemend.com/news2400.html

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1776756/middle-east

Author: Barbara Caltabiano; Editor: Gianmarco Italia