UN Chief Guterres “Deeply Concerned” Over Yemen Escalation

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres expressed “deep concern” over the recent escalation in and around Yemen during a meeting with Abdullah al-Alimi Bawazir, vice chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, on the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York, the secretary-general’s office announced, as Al Jazeera reports.

Guterres called for the “immediate and unconditional” release of UN personnel and staff of other organizations who continue to be held “arbitrarily” by the Houthis, the official statement said.

The meeting focused on the political, humanitarian and economic situation in Yemen, at a time when fighting between the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition has entered a new phase of escalation, with reciprocal air strikes, ballistic missiles launched toward Saudi cities and threats to international shipping in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

Guterres’s statement came the same day the UN Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the continued Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia, reaffirmed Riyadh’s inherent right to self-defense under international law and called on the Iran-backed group to immediately halt military escalation and attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, at least 125,000 people have been displaced in Yemen since the start of September as a result of the fighting, while humanitarian aid stands at critical levels.