Saudi-led Coalition calls on U.N. to run main Yemen airport

YemenExtra

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen requested on Thursday that the U.N. take control of the country’s main airport in the capital Sana`a.

The Saudi-led restrictions on Yemen’s airspace and the closure of its main airport in Sana’a have led to the deaths of over 10,000 people in the impoverished Arab nation over the past year, a rights group says.

The “Save the Children” organization warned that more than 1 million children in Yemen are at risk of dying from a cholera outbreak.

In a statement titled “Official Coalition Spokesman Asks UN to Run Sana’a International Airport” al-Malki said the alliance could allow Sanaa flights to resume.

Riyadh’s warplanes heavily bombarded the Sana’a airport in April that year, causing severe damage to the facility’s only runway and passenger terminal.

On August 9, 2016, the Saudis shut, the move has left many Yemenis with no safe means of transport in or outside of the country.

Riyadh and its allies have been blocking aid delivery to Yemen. In July, the UN said the coalition prevented deliveries of jet fuel to UN planes carrying desperately needed humanitarian aid to Sana’a