Yemen is the poorest country in the Middle East and the civil war, that has plunged into chaos, is one of the forgotten conflicts that the Pope included in his speech last Christmas.
The civil war has been brewing for years, but in March 2015 finally broke completely. Yemen is divided into two factions: the north, in the hands of Shiite rebels, who could be helped by Iran, and the south, controlled by the government, and supported by the coalition led by Saudi Arabia.
Lack of security has facilitated the entry of ISIS or Al Qaeda terrorists, who are the main suspects against religious attacks. Last September, in Aden, the last Catholic church in the country was burned.
The killing, of the four missionaries of Mother Teresa's congregation and 12 other people in a nursing home, was the latest of the many crimes committed in this conflict, whose authorship is unclear.
The UN says that the Saudi Arabia-led coalition could be responsible for many of the airstrikes commited on civilians.
RUPERT COLVILLE
Spokesperson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
'Civilian casualties continue to mount in Yemen. During the month of February, a total of at least 168 civilians were killed and 193 injured, around two-thirds of them by coalition airstrikes.â?
The coalition led by Saudi Arabia; however, has denied responsibility for such attacks on civilians. The representative at the UN has indicated that cases in which errors have been committed are under further investigation.
ABDALLAH AL-MOUALLIMI
Permanent Representative of Saudi Arabia to the UN
'Anybody who says that that the Saudi-led coalition targets deliberately civilian targets including hospitals or schools or otherwise is absolutely wrong. Itâ??s absolutely wrong.â?
It is estimated that the war has displaced more than one million and caused more than 9,000 deaths. Also added to this is the terrible food crisis affecting at least 15 million people.
JRB
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