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Yemen: 1,000 days of war

Thousands of public service employees across Yemen have not been paid their salaries for more than a year and a half.

Air strikes launched by the Saudi-led coalition since the night of 26 March, 2015, have destroyed entire neighbourhoods in Sana’a and across Yemen. Yasser al Hibshi, 38, lost his house and three of hi
Air strikes launched by the Saudi-led coalition have destroyed entire neighbourhoods in Sanaa and across Yemen. Yasser al Hibshi, 38, lost his house and three of his children in one of the first air raids. "I want to tell the world that we've had enough of the war. There is too much tragedy, so many families have been wiped out, for what? We hope that God will deliver Yemen and the Yemenis out of this situation." [Karl Schembri/NRC/Al Jazeera]
By Karl Schembri
Published On 19 Dec 2017

Sanaa, Yemen – One thousand days of war in Yemen: thousands killed, tens of thousands wounded, and millions pushed towards famine.

The humanitarian crisis in Yemen is entirely man-made, the result of three years of brutal violence and insidious tactics that continue to deprive millions of people of basic supplies and services.

A staggering 1.2 million civil servants haven’t received their salaries in more than a year, leaving health, education, and sanitation services without the people and resources needed to keep them running. Public infrastructure has been damaged and homes destroyed, forcing more than three million to flee their homes, most with only what they can carry. People living in congested conditions have too little access to money, food, water and medicine.

Prices are up but purchasing power is down, forcing people to make difficult choices with the few resources they have – water or transport to hospital? Medicine or food?

Wednesday marks 1,000 days since the military coalition led by Saudi Arabia began bombing rebel forces who seized the capital, Sanaa, and other territory during a lightning-quick offensive. 

Today, the Saudi-led coalition’s ongoing blockade on commercial fuel is choking a struggling population, and obstructions from the Houthi rebel authorities within Yemen prevent what there is from reaching people.

As a result, water pumps are switched off, hospital generators stop running, the cost of transport is out of reach and 22.2 million people in Yemen now depend on humanitarian aid.

About 16 million people cannot access safe water or healthcare, 4.5 million children are at risk of losing access to education, 8.4 million Yemenis are close to starvation.

The following photo story collected from Yemen by the Norwegian Refugee Council sheds light on the devastating impact of the last 1,000 days on ordinary Yemenis.

An old man points at his house destroyed by the airstrikes in Sana''a. Destruction in the Yemeni capital is everywhere: houses, health centres, wedding halls and even children’s playgrounds have been t
A man points at his house destroyed by air strikes in Sanaa. Destruction in the Yemeni capital is everywhere: houses, health centres, wedding halls, and even children's playgrounds have been targeted by the raids. [Karl Schembri/NRC/Al Jazeera]
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A man walks by civilian houses destroyed in Sana’a. Destruction in the Yemeni capital is everywhere: houses, health centres, wedding halls and even children’s playgrounds have been targeted by the air
A man walks by civilian houses destroyed in Sanaa. [Karl Schembri/NRC/Al Jazeera]
Ali Mothana Ali, 50, from Al-Dhalea, got seriously injured when his house was hit. “The airstrike that hit my house; it caught me just outside my home,” he said. “Shrapnel from the explosion hit me.
Ali Mothana Ali, 50, from al-Dhalea, was seriously wounded when his house was hit. "The air strike that hit my house, it caught me just outside my home. Shrapnel from the explosion hit me. I sustained facial injuries, splinters had to be extracted from my pelvis, and metal sliced off part of my leg. I survived because neighbours rushed me to a nearby village for treatment. With my injuries, I am disabled. I cannot work to feed my children. I am the only bread winner for my family, my oldest son is 10 years old." [Nuha Mohammed/NRC/Al Jazeera]
The fighting has been fierce also outside of Sana’a, displacing up to 3 million Yemenis across the country. Molok, from Sa’ada, had to flee with her children and grandchildren together with some 460
Fighting has also been fierce outside of Sanaa, displacing up to three million Yemenis across the country. Molok, from Saada, had to flee with her children and grandchildren together with 460 families when their neighbourhood was bombed more than two years ago. She has been living in an informal settlement in Houth ever since. [Alvhild Stromme/NRC/Al Jazeera]
Only a photograph and a lot of rubble is what remains of Omar’s former home in Taizz. “It took me 10 years to build this house, stone by stone, to make sure my children have a roof over their heads,”
Only a photograph and a lot of rubble is what remains of Omar's former home in Taiz. "It took me 10 years to build this house, stone by stone, to make sure my children have a roof over their heads. It was gone in a blink." In late 2015, armed groups ordered him to leave; his village had become a battleground. Omar and his family fled the house just days before it was leveled by air strikes. [Nuha Mohammed /NRC/Al Jazeera]
Beyond destruction, the loss of livelihoods pushes families into abject poverty and despair. Mahmoud Zeid and his wife Sabah speak of the day they had to flee their home in July 2015 following an air
Mahmoud Zeid and his wife Sabah speak of the day they fled their home in July 2015, following an air strike close to their neighbourhood in Jabal al-Nugm. Mahmoud used to work as a tailor, but since the war and blockade started he no longer has a job. Sabah suffers from kidney failure. They have six children. NRC provides them with food aid in a project funded by the UN's World Food Programme. Mahmoud said: "We have to survive. There is no food, no spending money like there used to be. We get a plate or two of food and get on with it. Even then we don't even have cooking gas." [Karl Schembri/NRC/Al Jazeera]
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Wedad is a single mother with four children from Amran. The dramatic hunger and poverty she has been pushed into make her prefer to die. “I pray God, please let us die or solve this, or let us die si
Wedad is a single mother with four children from Amran. She says the dramatic hunger and poverty she's been pushed into makes her prefer to die. "I pray God, please let us die or solve this, or let us die silently - that people would wake up in the morning and find us dead. It cannot be worse than what we have been through already. We felt the hunger, we felt the cold, we have been through everything." [Nuha Mohammed/NRC/Al Jazeera]
12-year-old Amani from Taizz lost her father and has been displaced ever since. “The clashes got intense and we were the last family to escape from the village,” she said. “We fled to a safer place
Amani, 12, from Taiz lost her father and has been displaced ever since. "The clashes got intense and we were the last family to escape from the village. We fled to a safer place and knew our father was a little way behind us when a shell hit and killed him. He died on the spot but we did not know. We kept calling his phone but got no answer and only later we heard he was dead. Everything is bad about fleeing your home: here there is no water, no firewood, we have nothing. Back home we had everything. I used to go to school, but now I cannot. I am afraid of the war; the scariest thing is hearing the bombs, the shotguns and the shells. We were terrified. We were hiding in our room and fearing death." [Nuha Mohammed/NRC/Al Jazeera]
Ahlam is four years old, two of which she spent in an informal settlement outside Houth in northern Yemen, living in extremely dire conditions. Her family fled from Sa’ada in 2015 after their neighbou
Ahlam, 4, has spent two years in an informal settlement outside Houth in northern Yemen, living in extremely dire conditions. Her family fled from Saada in 2015 after their neighbourhood came under attack. [Alvhild Stromme/NRC/Al Jazeera]
In this settlement outside Houth, nine-year-old Obaid (left) and his friend Modrek collect empty plastic bottles to sell for recycling. “If we collect one full, large bag, we get 150 Yemeni Rials (US
In this settlement outside Houth, Obaid, 9, (left) and his friend Modrek collect empty plastic bottles to sell for recycling. "If we collect one full, large bag, we get 150 Yemeni rials [US$0.60]," said Obaid. "I used to go to school. I like studying. But there is no school here." As the war continues, millions of children in Yemen, a country where only 60 percent of the population could read and write before the war, are deprived of an education. [Nuha Mohammed/NRC/Al Jazeera]
The crisis in Yemen is brutal on children and babies, many of whom are dying of starvation and acute malnutrition. Amani is a five-month-old baby weighing only 2 kgs. Here she is in the malnutrition
The crisis in Yemen is brutal on children, many of whom are dying of starvation and acute malnutrition. Amani is a five-month-old baby weighing only 2kg. Here she is in the malnutrition section of al-Sabeen Hospital in Sanaa. "Our neighbours gave us money to take Amani to the hospital," her mother Fatima said. "I’m so worried that once we're out of here we won't find enough food for my baby." [Nuha Mohammed/NRC/Al Jazeera]
Mohammed’s family travelled by road for close to 15 hours through several checkpoints to reach Al Sabeen Hospital with their malnourished child. “We had no choice, there are no functioning facilitie
Mohammed's family travelled by road for close to 15 hours through several checkpoints to reach al-Sabeen Hospital with their malnourished child. "We had no choice, there are no functioning facilities in our area now," his father Waheeb said. "There is nothing." At two years of age, Mohammed weighs 5.9kg and cannot sit unassisted. [Nuha Mohammed/NRC/Al Jazeera]
One-year-old Fatima weighs 4.2 kgs. She was brought to Al Sabeen Hospital by her mother when she became unwell and developed a fever and has since been receiving care for acute malnutrition. Fatima
One-year-old Fatima weighs 4.2kg. She was brought to al-Sabeen Hospital by her mother when she became unwell and developed a fever and has since been receiving care for acute malnutrition. Fatima is one of four children but failing to thrive like her older siblings. A collapsing economy and impediments to the movement of humanitarian supplies have left millions of Yemenis in urgent need of life-saving aid and protection. [Nuha Mohammed/NRC/Al Jazeera]
Yemenis queue at a food voucher distribution point in Sana’a. The Norwegian Refugee Council is helping some of the hardest hit families with food vouchers and other assistance. A staggering 8.4 mill
Yemenis queue at a food voucher distribution point in Sanaa. The Norwegian Refugee Council is helping some of the hardest-hit families with food vouchers and other assistance. A staggering 8.4 million Yemenis are now close to starvation after 1,000 days of war and a blockade of food, fuel and medicine. [Karl Schembri/NRC/Al Jazeera]
Dr Zikra Abdullah Saif, a medical warehouse officer at Sabeen Hospital in Sana’a. “Our tragedy now is that we cannot do our job the way we should, while we are struggling for our basic food,” she sai
Dr Zikra Abdullah Saif works at al-Sabeen Hospital in Sanaa. "Our tragedy now is that we cannot do our job the way we should, while we are struggling for our basic food. If the war continues and we keep being unpaid, we will have to flee to the villages. We will bring water from the well, plant, and live a simple way of life. We'll have to flee from the cities and live like people did in primitive times." [Karl Schembri/NRC/Al Jazeera]