UN urges ‘humanitarian pause’ in airstrikes, fighting in Yemen

The UN called for a “humanitarian” truce in airstrikes and fighting in Yemen on Tuesday to allow for the delivery of aid to civilians trapped in the capital Sanaa. A message was “sent asking for a truce, a peace pause, a humanitarian pause, for the parties to stop shooting, stop fighting, stop airstrikes,” UN humanitarian coordinator Jamie McGoldrick told reporters in Geneva by phone from Sanaa. “Our ability to get to people over the last five days has been impeded because of the airstrikes, because of the fighting, and our life-saving support activities were blocked,” he said, as cited by AFP. The statement came a day after Yemen’s Houthi rebels killed former president Ali Abdullah Saleh as he fled the capital following the collapse of their alliance.