The Saudi-led Arab coalition accused on Monday United Nations officials of bias towards the Iran-backed Houthi militias in Yemen.
Alliance spokesman Colonel Turki al-Maliki said that the officials have yielded to Houthi pressure and been “promoting their accounts” about the war in Yemen, especially in regards to coalition targets.
Some of these officials are making “biased” statements over the targets, he told a press conference in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
These statements promote the Houthi side of the war to the international community, he added.
Maliki voiced the Arab coalition’s surprise at some of the UN official statements, whether from within or outside Yemen, that tend to believe the Houthi allegations, which are based on unfounded claims.
Moreover, he noted that the environment in Houthi-held Sanaa is not suitable for the operation of UN agencies.
He underlined the mechanisms in place that dictate how the Arab coalition communicates with any UN agency, demanding at the same time that the international organization remain impartial in its humanitarian work and end its silence over the Houthi violations.
On the militias’ violations, he said that the Houthis fired five ballistic missiles at Saudi Arabia during the annual Hajj season, bringing the total of rockets fired at the Kingdom to 182.
Maliki stressed that the Arab coalition will continue to target ballistic missile launch platforms and locations, accusing the Houthis of abusing areas that are protected by international law and using civilians as human shields to avoid alliance strikes.
