The UN rights chief expressed alarm today at the situation in Yemen as Arab warplanes pounded the country for a sixth day, warning it appeared about to collapse.
“The situation in Yemen is extremely alarming, with dozens of civilians killed over the past four days,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said in a statement.
“The country seems to be on the verge of total collapse.”
Zeid’s comments came after nearly a week of air strikes by a Saudi-led coalition, which has vowed to continue the attacks until Huthi rebels end their uprising against President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, who has fled to Saudi Arabia.
Since Friday, at least 93 civilians have been killed and 364 injured in the violence, the UN human rights office said.
“We have reports that the hospitals are really full of dead and injured people,” spokeswoman Cecile Pouilly told AFP. “We have heard about lots of dead bodies,” she added.
Zeid voiced outrage at the high toll.
“The killing of so many innocent civilians is simply unacceptable,” he said.
The UN rights chief said he was particularly shocked by an air strike on yesterday against the Al-Mazraq camp for displaced people in northwest Yemen.
The International Organization for Migration said at least 40 people had been killed and 200 wounded in the attack, and medics at a hospital near the camp gave a similar toll.
Zeid’s office said its staff had personally verified that at least 19 people had died and at least 35 had been injured, including 11 children.
The camp, which is home to some 4,000 people, was set up by the United Nations in 2009 and recently received at least 300 new families fleeing unrest in Saada, the northern stronghold of the Huthis, the statement said.