PRESS RELEASE
U.S. Navy Documents Saudi-British Genocide in Yemen
July 9, 2015 (EIRNS)—A U.S. Navy Central Command report leaked to Reuters documents the strangulation of Yemen by the Saudi blockade of the country.
According to Reuters, the document, a humanitarian assessment which also has the Saudi flag stamped on it, reports that Yemen is running critically short of imported food and fuel, because shipping into Yemen’s ports has been drastically reduced, and supply lines within the country have been cut by the Saudi bombing and the fighting on the ground.
The document, obtained by Reuters, says that just 42 ships reached Yemen with goods in June, compared with 100 in March. Port calls by cargo, container ships, and fuel tankers were down more than 75% between January and June from the same period last year.
Aid agencies are calling for an immediate truce, and warning that they can’t meet the vast needs of the Yemeni population.
The U.S. aid report said Yemen had managed to import only 11% of its monthly fuel needs of 500,000 tons per month in June, 18% in May, 1% in April and 23% in March, with the country facing a 1.8 million-ton shortfall in fuel imports.
"On average [there is] less than one hour of electricity per day," it said. "The lack of storage capacity and fuel for milling of grain into flour is discouraging traders from taking orders for more grain."
Aid agencies have been calling for an immediate truce, warning that they can’t meet the needs of the Yemeni population and urging that normal commerce be resumed. On Thursday afternoon, July 9, the UN announced an "unconditional humanitarian pause" to take effect at midnight on Friday. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that both sides had agreed to halt the fighting at least through July 17, the end of Ramadan.
