FILE - In this Aug. 25, 2017 file photo, People inspect the rubble of houses destroyed by Saudi-led airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen. The Monday, Sept. 25, 2017, Kurdish independence referendum in Iraq is the latest in a series of moves toward formal secession or de facto fragmentation caused by conflict, race or religion in the Middle East. It’s a trend viewed with considerable alarm in a region that had seriously flirted with merging its nations in post-colonial years more than a half century ago. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed, File)
September 27, 2017 - 3:10 AM
CAIRO - An international rights group says the warring sides in Yemen — a Saudi-led coalition and the country's Shiite rebels that it's battling — are both preventing much-needed aid and fuel tankers from reaching civilians.
A report by Human Rights Watch says this is exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in the war-torn country. The report was released on Wednesday.
HRW says the Saudi-led coalition has delayed and diverted fuel tankers bringing badly needed oil for power generators for hospitals. Meanwhile, the rebels, known as Houthis, and their allies have blocked and confiscated aid.
Bill Van Esveld, a senior researcher at HRW, says the "warring parties need to allow fuel, food and medicines to reach the families that need it."
Since March 2015, the war in Yemen has killed more than 10,000 civilians.
News from © The Associated Press, 2017