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Saudi Arabia using banned arms in war on Yemen: Ministry

Smoke billows form an airstrike by Saudi Arabia on an army arms depot on June 7, 2015, east of the Yemeni capital Sana’a. © AFP

Saudi Arabia has used internationally prohibited weapons against the Yemeni people during its ongoing military campaign against the war-hit Arab country, Yemen’s Ministry of Public Health says.

The ministry's spokesman, Tamim Shami, said on Saturday that some of the injured Yemeni people have symptoms indicating that they were exposed to prohibited weapons dropped by Saudi war machine during Riyadh’s war on Sana’a, which started on March 26 without a UN mandate.

During the briefing, Shami also said that Yemen is facing an escalation of humanitarian situation due to the shortage of medical supplies.

He said more than 5,000 people are currently suffering from dengue fever and Malaria.

Saudi fighter jets have also reportedly destroyed drug containers used by the charity organization, Oxfam, to fight deadly viruses in the northwestern Yemeni province of Sa’ada.

Shami’s remarks came after a coalition of 13 aid organizations, in a joint statement released on Thursday, called on the international community to support an urgent permanent ceasefire to save the lives of millions of Yemenis.

The relief agencies also called for lifting Saudi aerial and naval blockade on Yemen and demanded “an end to arms transfers to those responsible for breaches of international humanitarian law, and a sizeable increase in humanitarian and longer term development funding.”

The relief groups also said the Yemenis are in dire need of humanitarian aid as more than 12 million people were going hungry due to a growing shortage of wheat and other staples and over 15 million “are without access to healthcare as hospitals shut down due to lack of medical supplies and power cuts.”

The UN says at least 2,300 people have been killed and 7,330 injured due to the conflict in the Arabian Peninsula state since March 19.

SF/NN/HRB


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