‘Millions of victims’ face starvation

The United Nations and more than 20 aid groups said yesterday that the Saudi-led coalition’s tightening of a blockade on war-torn Yemen could bring millions of people closer to “starvation and death”.

Mark Lowcock, the humanitarian chief for the UN, warned earlier that unless the coalition lifted its blockade, Yemen would face “the largest famine the world has seen for many decades, with millions of victims”.

The coalition closed all ports and halted aid shipments after Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired a ballistic missile over the weekend that was shot down near Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia blamed the strike on Iran, which supports the Houthis but has denied arming them.