UN Coordinator Calls for Immediate Truce in Taiz

SANA'A, July 27 (Saba) - The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen called on Wednesday for an immediate humanitarian truce in Taiz province.

"I call on all parties to agree immediately to a humanitarian pause," said Jamie McGoldrick in a statement issued yesterday by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

James McGoldrick voiced an alarm at increasing bloodshed in the southwestern Taiz province, particularly al-Serari area.

He expressed his concerns about the reinforcement of the closure on Taiz city as well as the escalation of hostilities in the area of al-Serari.

The UN official warned both parties that holding civilian populations hostage and depriving them of humanitarian assistance was illegal under international humanitarian law.

"All parties who violate international humanitarian law must remember that they could be held to account," he added.

McGoldrick urged them to protect civilians and cooperate with humanitarian agencies to help treat and evacuate war-wounded and deliver urgently needed medicine into the embattled zone.