Letter to the editor: Plea to help Yemen

This is a cry for help for the people of Yemen, the poorest Arab country on the Arabian Peninsula, bordering Saudi Arabia.

I lived in the coastal town of Aden, Yemen from 2010-11 teaching English to Yemeni students. That town and that country are being torn apart by a protracted, multilayered civil war, which began in March 2015 between the Saudi Arabia-backed government of Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and the Iran-aligned Shiite Houthi rebels. The U.N. says Yemen is “the world's largest humanitarian crisis."

The U.S. provides weapons, logistics and air-refueling to the Saudi Air Force. In mid-March, a strike on a Yemeni market killed 119 civilians, including 25 children. Remnants of the bombs showed U.S. GBU-31 satellite-guided bombs.

The war has killed 13,600 people, including many children. Public infrastructure has been damaged and homes destroyed by Saudi attacks; more than 3 million have fled their homes.

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. Yemenis are dying from preventable illnesses: malnutrition, diarrhea and respiratory tract infections.

The international community stands by without taking action.

Contact your congressional representatives. Demand no more U.S. support for Saudi-led air strikes on Yemeni civilians, and for immediate humanitarian aid to Yemen. Several legislators, including Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), have proposed resolutions to curtail military aid to Saudi Arabia. For more information: yemenpeaceproject.org.

FRANK JANZEN, Lawrence