SIPRI: War in Yemen is destroying roads and ports — humanitarian crisis deepens

The ongoing war in Yemen has severely damaged roads, ports and infrastructure, deepening the country’s humanitarian crisis, a new report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) says. According to the report, attacks on critical infrastructure have “rewritten both daily survival and long-term recovery prospects,” as Al Jazeera’s live blog reports.

Communities are facing “rising transport costs, collapsed supply chains, disrupted livelihoods and escalating health and safety risks,” the report says. Yemen has been engulfed in conflict for years, but the war has intensified in recent weeks as the U.S. and Iran have become involved in hostilities across the Middle East.

The developments follow an escalation of fighting in Yemen: Yemeni government forces have claimed ongoing attacks on Houthi positions, while the Iran-backed Houthis have expanded their control on the Red Sea coast and in the Bab al-Mandeb strait, another key oil corridor.