Aid groups warn of civilian toll, violations in Yemen's Hudaida

Aid groups warned of the plight of civilians in Yemen's contested Hudaida where casualties are mounting as the Saudi-led coalition are fighting to take the port city from the country's Shia rebels.

Amnesty International warned late Wednesday that rebels have taken up positions on a Hudaida hospital rooftop, raising concerns they are using the hospital's patients as human shields to ward off coalition airstrikes. 

Doctors Without Borders, meanwhile, said it was treating two dozen wounded from the latest offensive.

The push against the Iran-backed rebels also known as Houthis who are holding Hudaida began anew this month, shortly after the United States called for a ceasefire by the end of the month.

Apparently in a rush to try to take Hudaida before then, coalition artillery, helicopter gunships and airstrikes have pounded the rebels since then, with dozens killed on both sides. 

The rebels admit they are outnumbered but have vowed to fight on.

Fragile ceasefire

Ceasefires in Yemen's civil war have rarely held, and peace talks have repeatedly broken down in the past.

Amnesty urged the warring sides to protect civilians. It said that the coalition, which relies heavily on air power, has killed scores of civilians in recent airstrikes, and rebels are responding with mortars in residential neighborhoods that cause indiscriminate casualties.

"The presence of Houthi fighters on the hospital's roof violates international humanitarian law," said Amnesty's Samah Hadid, adding that "this violation does not make the hospital and the patients and medical staff lawful targets" for the coalition.

Hadid said the hospital was full of wounded "civilians who have nowhere else to go for lifesaving medical care. Anyone attacking a hospital under these conditions risks responsibility for war crimes."

Arab world's poorest nation

The conflict in Yemen, the Arab world's poorest country, began with the 2014 takeover of the capital, Sanaa, by the Houthis who toppled the internationally recognised government. 

The Saudi-led coalition has been fighting the rebels since 2015, in an attempt to restore that government to power.

In recent days, fighting intensified with troops trained by the United Arab Emirates, a coalition member, advanced in eastern Hodeida, pushing toward the city's port and key Red Sea facilities, some 5 kilometres away.

Doctors Without Borders reported an influx of wounded civilians in recent days, with 24 wounded, including women and children from Hudaida, with mostly blast and gunshot injuries.

The aid group said civilians were reported leaving Hudaida over the weekend but that it was difficult to assess how many remained trapped inside.

Khashoggi killing related to Yemen ceasefire? 

The killing of Jamal Khashoggi may have triggered a ceasefire in Yemen, and possibly peace in the war-torn country, according to the president of the International Rescue Committee (IRC).

David Miliband, who is a former British foreign secretary and member of parliament, said while the journalist's death was tragic, international focus on Khashoggi's murder should be switched to actions of Saudi Arabia in Yemen, where millions of lives are affected.

"Maybe the killing of Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi thugs has created a new mantra: one death can be the spark that forestalls the suffering of millions," Miliband said in an opinion piece on CNN.

Miliband was referring to US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's call on all participants in the Yemen civil war to agree to a ceasefire "in the next 30 days," last month.

"The suffering in Yemen has gone unacknowledged for far too long - and has emboldened those willing to act with impunity," Miliband said. "Jamal Khashoggi's legacy should be accountability not just for the suffering of one, but of millions."