WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The United States takes all "credible accounts" of civilian deaths seriously and calls on all parties to Yemeni conflict to avoid harm to civilians and resume peace talks and cooperate with the UN on the issue, he added.
"We are deeply concerned about recent reports of escalating violence in Yemen and resulting deaths of civilians — inluding those attacks that killed an ambulance driver associated with Medecins Sans Frontiers in Dahyan, a freelance journalist near Sanaa, and at the Ras Isa oil Terinal," White House National Security Council spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement on Saturday.
Since March, a Saudi-led coalition has been carrying out airstrikes against Houthi positions at the request of Yemen’s President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.
The rising death toll among the civilian population prompted the United Nations to mediate a ceasefire between the Saudi coalition and the Houthis in December for the time of the intra-Yemeni talks in Geneva, although hostilities continued.
On Tuesday, UN chief Ban Ki-moon again urged all parties in Yemen as well as regional powers to commit to a comprehensive ceasefire to resume the delayed peace talks.
