Thousands of Yemenis Protest Saudi Blockade, Airport Closure

By Staff, Agencies

Thousands of Yemeni protesters took to the streets of the capital Sanaa on Friday to protest the Saudi-led blockade of the country and the closure of the city’s international airport.

The blockade has made it difficult for food and medical supplies to reach local residents.

"All sectors issued a distress call that they are unable to work due to the lack of oil derivatives. Therefore, here we hold the coalition of aggression, led by the United States, as well as the United Nations participating in this blockade, fully responsible for what the situation has turned into in the past and what it will turn out into in the coming days," said Essam al-Mutawakel, an oil company spokesperson.

Organized under the name of 'the Siege of the Coalition of Aggression is Killing Yemeni People', the protest included demonstrators carrying signs condemning the United States and the United Nations as well.

When Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched the war on Yemen in March 2015, their objective was to bring fugitive former president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh, back to power and crush the Ansarullah revolutionary movement. The goal of the deadly campaign has not materialized.

Ansarullah fighters have been of significant help to the Yemeni army in defending the country against the invaders, leaving the coalition forces bogged down in Yemen.

More than 110,000 Yemenis have been killed since the onset of war.

At least 80 percent of the 28-million-strong population is reliant on aid to survive in what the UN has called the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

The war has destroyed or closed half of Yemen’s hospitals and clinics, leaving the people helpless particularly at a time when they are in desperate need of medical supplies to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.