The minister for Human Rights of the recognized Government of Yemen, Mahsur Omar, has estimated that the attacks by the Houthi rebels since the beginning of the major offensive launched on September 3 have already caused more than 250 civilian deaths and 360 injuries, in addition to more than 200,000 people displaced from their homes.
According to the report presented this Friday before the United Nations Human Rights Council, the Yemeni official, whose Executive is currently based in the city of Aden and is the only authority accepted by the international community, has blamed the Houthis for "the continuous deterioration of the humanitarian and human rights situation in Yemen and the serious violations suffered by civilians, especially children."
Omar has detailed incidents such as bombings against displaced caravans that have left at least 50 dead and injured, as well as the death of three minors in a Houthi attack on the village of Al Turayrah, in the province of Taiz, on September 17, including a girl of less than a year and a half. He has also mentioned the flight of nearly 3,000 people to the Republic of Djibouti as the escalation continues and the humanitarian emergency worsens.
The minister has added that the Houthis systematically resort to the recruitment of minors and that the insurgents "have turned schools, summer centers, and other civilian facilities into tools for mobilization, indoctrination, and recruitment," as he stated before the organization in Geneva in a speech broadcast on the Ministry's social media.
He has also denounced repeated interruptions in the functioning of 26 health centers supported by the United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, in areas such as Taiz, Hodeida, Marib, and the western coast.
In the same intervention, he also condemned the "continuation of the arbitrary detention of United Nations employees and humanitarian and civilian workers." The UN itself warned last June that 73 of its workers are still being held by Houthi militias, including one who died while in custody.