UN Human Rights Chief Alarmed by Rising Civilian Toll in Yemen

The UN human rights chief voiced alarm at the rising civilian toll of escalating hostilities in Yemen on Monday, urging efforts to avoid plunging the country back into full-scale war.

Yemen, which has been embroiled in more than a decade of civil conflict, became the latest country to be dragged into the Iran war last month as the Tehran-backed Houthi group upended a 2022 truce with the Saudi-backed government, ramping up attacks on areas it holds.

The latest violence has raised the spectre of a return to war in the Arabian Peninsula's poorest country.

"I call on all parties to de-escalate tensions and spare the Yemeni people from further misery. The Yemeni people have already suffered way too much from the devastating legacy of years of conflict, displacement and humanitarian crisis," Volker Türk said.

"I urge all parties to halt immediately any actions that risk returning Yemen to full-scale conflict."

Earlier this month, the Houthi rebels launched their deadliest attacks in years, killing 58 government troops, according to a military source, mainly in the oil-rich Marib province.

Two civilians were killed in Houthi shelling on residential areas and displacement camps in Marib that same day.

The UN rights office said at least seven civilians had been killed and 10 others wounded in Houthi attacks on government-controlled areas since 6 August, while two civilians had been reported injured in Houthi-held areas in late July.

Houthi missile and drone attacks on the port of Mokha on the Red Sea on 9 August killed three port workers and injured four others, it said.

Another attack by the group on a cargo ship in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait on 11 August reportedly killed four crew members, three Pakistanis and one Indonesian, and injured several others, it added.

The rights office highlighted that multiple civilian sites had also been hit in the attacks, including fuel storage facilities and a residential compound at the Saudi Field Hospital in Mokha.

"Attacks on civilian infrastructure risk further deepening civilian suffering at a time when at least 18 million Yemenis are already food insecure," Türk said.

"These attacks must end immediately."