The International Committee of the Red Cross expressed concern today regarding the worsening situation in Marib Governorate, urging all parties to the conflict to ensure the protection of civilians and infrastructure.
In a statement from the committee's mission in Yemen on Twitter, it said: "The committee expresses grave concern about the increasing violence around Marib. The International Committee of the Red Cross calls on all parties to the conflict to take all possible measures to protect civilians and their property, and all essential civilian infrastructure."
The statement noted that the International Committee of the Red Cross has provided support to the main hospitals treating the wounded by sending surgical teams and general medical supplies. Clashes have intensified between the Yemeni army, loyal to the legitimate government, and the "Ansar Allah" group in Marib, the site of the fiercest fighting between the two sides in northeastern Yemen.
Violent fighting erupted due to the "Houthis" attempts to control several sites around the strategic Kofal camp, located about 10 km from the center of the Sirwah district, which is 30 km from Marib city, the headquarters of the Yemeni army. Last Monday, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mark Lowcock, warned of the humanitarian consequences resulting from the escalation of fighting between the Yemeni army and the "Ansar Allah" group in Marib Governorate, northeastern Yemen.
It is noteworthy that the United Nations has described the war ongoing in Yemen for six years as a humanitarian catastrophe, while its humanitarian agency confirmed in its latest reports on the conflict, released at the beginning of this year, that the war in Yemen has claimed the lives of 233,000 people over six years. In addition to the casualties from the war, it has caused immense destruction to Yemen's infrastructure.
