Yemeni Official Denounces US Suffocating Siege on Yemen

By Staff, Agencies

The head of Yemen’s supreme political council Mahdi al-Mashat denounced on Sunday the “suffocating siege” imposed by the United States, which has compounded the misery of war-weary people in the Arab country.

Al-Mashat termed the US-led blockade against Yemen as “part of its ongoing horrendous crimes” in the war-ravaged country.

Pointing to the criminal collaboration between the US and the Saudi-led military coalition, he asserted that the kingdom has “sought to target” Yemeni people with the “American weaponry.”

“The Saudi aggression has spawned horrendous human rights abuses and led to the killing of civilians, including women and children, in the Arab country,” he noted.

 The Yemeni official referred to the Saudi airstrikes in the afternoon of October 8, 2016, which targeted the packed al-Kubra hall in Sana’a during a funeral, claiming at least 155 lives.

He described the incident as “one of the most heinous crimes” committed against the people of Yemen, which “showed the brutality of the American and Saudi aggression”.

“The pure blood spilled in this particular incident and other such incidents has no price but freedom and independence,” al-Mashat said.

According to Yemeni media reports, Saudi warplanes bombed the oil-rich province at least 24 times early Monday, with al-Abdiyah being struck 21 times, Juba twice and Qaniyah once.

Earlier Sunday, Saudi Arabia admitted that it had bombed the city of al-Abdiyah 118 times in the past four days to prevent the advance of Yemeni army forces and popular committees.

According to reports, Saudi fighter jets also bombed areas in the provinces of al-Bayda and Saada.