King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Aid started the distribution of food baskets to the affected people in Mokha governorate of Taiz province. The center distributed 10,000 food baskets containing basic food items through local partners, the Saudi Press Agency reported. Meanwhile, three UN agencies voiced an urgent call for raising $1.2 billion to save more than 7 million Yemeni lives. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Program issued a joint statement on the situation of food security and nutrition in Yemen. Number of people facing food scarcity in Yemen has risen to 17.1 million in a period of only seven months. "They don't have access to food," the statement stated. Out of 17.1 million, some 7.3 million are in dire need of urgent food assistance. These agencies' estimate have shown that the rate of acute and severe malnutrition has crossed the critical level in four governorates, while agricultural production is decreasing across the country, the statement concluded. In Aden, Yemeni President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi asserted that the National Army will not stop deployment unless the task of restoring the state and imposing control on all national soil is achieved. The president was addressing the nation on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the February 11th Revolution. He urged those who fell to the deception of Houthis and ousted Saleh to stop following psychopath leaders, who are pushing the nation into an abyssa in order to achieve personal greed and private gains on the expense of the motherland and the people. The Yemeni Army, the president added, is yours, for all of you and for this motherland. The government is determined to move toward reactivating all state apparatus which have been badly affected. — SG
