UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations Security
Council is holding an emergency meeting on Saturday to discuss the current situation in Yemen.
The extraordinary meeting of the 15-member UN Security Council has been convened after Russia called for it to discuss a proposal for a humanitarian pause in the Saudi-led coalition airstrikes on the country.
In a statement, the Russian UN mission’s spokesman Aleksey Zaytsev said that Russia insists it is necessary for the international community to discuss the establishment of regular and mandatory “humanitarian pauses” in the ongoing coalition air strikes on Yemen.
A Saudi-led regional coalition has been engaging Iran-backed Shiite Houthi rebels from the air since March 26 after the Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi was forced to flee the country and asked for an international intervention to reinstate his rule.
Meanwhile, the United Nations has said that at least 519 persons including women and children have so far lost their lives in the Yemeni conflict.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos said that 1,700 people have also sustained injuries during clashes between rival groups in Yemen as well as the Saudi airstrikes.
The UN official called on all parties to the conflict to protect civilians including women and children.
