Rebel-held Sanaa braces for ‘famine’ as Yemen blockade tightens

SANAA, Yemen – Residents of Yemen’s rebel-held capital say rising food and fuel prices are making life increasingly difficult because of a Saudi-led blockade that the UN warns could bring the world’s worst famine in decades.

Sanaa residents say the price of gasoline has jumped 50 percent, the value of the national currency plummeted and prices of basic goods rose after the Saudi-led coalition sealed off Yemen’s borders on Monday.

Saudi Arabia and its allies intervened in neighboring Yemen in March 2015 with the stated aim of rolling back gains by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels and restoring the government of Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi to power.

Since then, the coalition has enforced a de facto blockade on land crossings and air and sea ports, and the UN and other international humanitarian organizations are required to obtain permission for sporadic aid deliveries.

On Monday the coalition said it was closing Yemen’s borders and ports, accusing Iran of being behind a rebel attack in which a missile was intercepted near Riyadh airport over the weekend.

The coalition said the tightened blockade was temporary and aimed at filling gaps in inspection procedures to halt the “smuggling of missiles and military equipment.”

— AFP