The UN special envoy for Yemen warned Tuesday the "increasingly dire" military situation in the Arab world's poorest country is putting UN efforts to end the five-year conflict at "great risk" and causing dozens, and perhaps hundreds, of civilian casualties.
Martin Griffiths told the UN Security Council that the U.S.-backed Arab coalition battling to restore Yemen's internationally recognized government and Houthi Shiite rebels "have announced expansive military goals and exchanged fierce rhetoric."
Hostilities have escalated significantly along several fronts, including some which had been quiet for months, and reported airstrikes and cross-border aerial attacks "have increased considerably," he said in a video briefing from Geneva.