Photo Credit: The Guardian
A Yemeni Houthi opposition delegation arrived in Baghdad on August 29 to garner support for its new “governing council,” announced as peace talks being held in Kuwait faltered. The 10-member council, announced in early August, aims to run the country in lieu of the internationally-recognized government based in Aden, and comprises Houthi officials, allegedly backed by Iran, and the General People’s Congress, the party of former President Ali Abdallah Saleh. Last week, tens of thousands of Yemenis rallied in Sana’a in support of the governing council.
The international community has condemned the formation of the governing council. Last week, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry visited Jeddah for talks with Saudi officials. Kerry proposed a renewed peace negotiation plan that would involve the formation of a unity government. He also announced an additional $189 million in U.S. humanitarian aid for Yemen.
On August 30, a report from United Nations’ Humanitarian Coordinator Jamie McGoldrick found that approximately 10,000 people have been killed in Yemen’s civil war. These numbers are high compared to previous estimates, with some as low as 4,000 killed.
Sixty percent of the casualties have been the result of various Saudi airstrikes since their campaign began in March 2015. It has also displaced approximately three million people. McGoldrick said that “humanitarian work alone cannot solve these problems.” He called upon “the relevant authorities for the immediate reopening of the airport and the resumption of commercial flights into Sana’a to alleviate some of the suffering of the civilian population.”
In another report on August 31, UN Special Envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed announced before the UN Security Council that the increased military escalation has been fueling extremist groups in Yemen, including al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the Islamic State. Earlier this week, IS took credit for a suicide bombing in Aden that killed 60 people. Ahmed noted that while Yemen’s army has done well to challenge the growing threat of terrorists, “the absence of the state in many parts of Yemen, in addition to the chaos created by war, will continue to facilitate the expansion of the terrorist groups which represents a real threat to the region.”
Ahmed also made note of multiple human rights violations taking place in Yemen, including the bombing of a rural hospital and unjust treatment of religious minorities in Sana’a. He ended his findings to the Security Council with his belief that this conflict will only be solved through a political solution.
A minister in the Hadi government this week estimated that the cost to rebuild Yemen once the fighting stops could be at least $15 billion.