White House Ratchets Up Yemen Pressure as Crisis Worsens
- USAID chief says humanitarian disaster is only getting worse
- U.S. officials become increasingly critical of Saudi Arabia
Houthi fighters inspect damage following a reported airstrike carried out by the Saudi-led coalition targeted the presidential palace in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Dec. 5.
Photographer: Mohammed Huwais/AFP via Getty Images
The U.S. is ramping up pressure on Saudi Arabia to ease its blockade of Yemen amid fears that the crisis is slipping further into catastrophe and people will lose access to clean drinking water, President Donald Trump’s foreign aid chief said.
A Saudi-led coalition’s blockade of the Arab world’s poorest nation is preventing fuel used to pump water from getting to Yemen’s people, Mark Green, the head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, said in an interview. While the Trump administration has courted Saudi Arabia’s government and continues to provide support for airstrikes over Yemen, Green’s criticism reflects increasing frustration over the course of the conflict.