More action needed to help end conflict in Yemen

The international community must take a more proactive role to help bring an end to the yearslong conflict in Yemen, experts said after the United Nations lamented another regrettable "milestone" in the war.

James Elder, a spokesperson for the UN children's agency UNICEF, said on Oct 19 that the Yemen conflict has hit another "shameful milestone" as 10,000 children have been killed or maimed since fighting started in March 2015.

"That's the equivalent of four children every day," said Elder at a UN news conference in Geneva after returning from Yemen.

UNICEF estimates that more than 11 million children in Yemen need humanitarian assistance and that 1.7 million children are now internally displaced because of the violence.

Abdulghani Al-Iryani, a senior researcher at the Yemen-based Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies, said that despite the already staggering estimates, the numbers in regard to the victims of conflict are "underreported". In the Marib region, tens of thousands of civilians are caught in the crossfire.

"The UK and the US are active participants in this conflict," Al-Iryani said. "As parties to the conflict, they have a duty of care of the civilian population that they have bombed and laid siege on."

Since civil war in Yemen broke out in 2014 after the Houthis' seizure of the capital Sanaa, Yemen has been divided into factions. Apart from the Houthis, some areas are being controlled by the Southern Transitional Council and anti-Houthi forces opposed to the government.

On Thursday, Houthi militias announced seizing control of Al-Jubah and Jabal Murad districts in southern Marib after deadly fighting against the government forces.

With the newly seized districts, the Houthis now seized control of all areas around the west and south of the province's central city and oil fields.

The Iran-backed Houthi militias began in February a major offensive on Marib in an attempt to seize control of the oil-rich province, the last northern stronghold of the Saudi-backed Yemeni government.

Mehmet Rakipoglu, a research assistant at Sakarya University's Middle East Institute in Turkey, said one focus rests on the role of the international community and its apparent inaction in regard to dealing with the Yemen issue.

Rakipoglu said those countries, which have been criticizing the role of the UN in Yemen, can help raise awareness about the conflict through the UN Security Council, with "big powers" like China or Russia also actively engaged.

Rakipoglu said there should be an understanding among all parties involved in the Yemen conflict, which he said, have been "directly and indirectly responsible for the humanitarian crisis."

Rasha Al Joundy, senior researcher at the Dubai Public Policy Research Centre, said: "This war should end, and the Yemenis deserve better and (have) suffered enough."

Xinhua contributed to this story.