Feature: Yemenis await Eid amid airstrikes and miseries

"I don't think words can describe tragedies that the months-long conflict has brought as they really are," Ammar Al-Zaimi started his way of telling the story of Yemen.

"Is there anything the conflict has not hit? None, of course. No power, no water, no food, no peace and no state for more than six months. Deaths and miseries are everywhere," said Al-Zaimi, a 33-year bus driver in the capital Sanaa.

People especially in Sanaa have been living under deadly airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition, acute shortages or rather lacks of supplies and other misery such as increasing poverty and unemployment, which are the direct impacts of the destroyed economy.

"Nothing is normal in most Yemeni cities hit by the conflict especially the capital," said Walid Ali, a newly hired pharmacist.

"I have not only lost my family but also my house. Before this happened, I lost my job after the conflict started to deepen business hurdles that started in 2011," he said.

Walid lost his wife, daughter and brother in an airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition in the district of al-Sabeen in southern Sanaa, several days ahead of Eid al-Adha, one of the most important festivals for the Muslims.

"The conflict has left us no chance to talk about Eid or other ceremonies that used to be celebrated by people all the time," he added.

Lately, the common story in many cities has become losing relatives or properties either by airstrikes or the civil war between the pro-government forces and the Houthi militants.

People are suffering priceless and uncompensated losses and that's why Eid al-Adha this year is almost absent in Yemen.

Yemen's Saba news agency reported that more than 236 civilians have been killed in airstrikes in the past four days alone. Hundreds of others were wounded and many public and private properties destroyed, it said.

The United Nations agency said more than 4,500 people had been killed in Yemen, including around 400 children.

In addition, a blockade on the sea, land and air ports, as part of the Arab coalition's military operation against the Houthi militants in March, has been deepening the suffering of the people.

It has affected all imports and exports, leaving more than 25 million people in dire need of supplies.

While calling for an immediate end of the blockade, international organizations have described it as a collective punishment on people and a serious violation of the international laws.

The national economy has almost been paralyzed due to the war.

"For me, struggle of households to cope with financial hurdles stands as a war itself. Salaries can't bring our families the least needs that keep us living as normal humans," said Mohammed Saeed, a state employee.

"Who can believe that only basic salaries have been left for employees. What can such salaries do for a 10-member family? I am talking abut state workers because layoffs at the private sector are shocking," he continued.

Amid the acute shortages of supplies, prices of products have soared, some by 50 percent or even more, from the pre-war prices, according to research centers.

In most densely populated cities such as Taiz where people saw shelling by the Houthi militants, the conditions are worse.

International organizations are warning of the humanitarian catastrophe and calling for an immediate end to the war.

Around 80 percent of the 24 million population in Yemen are in need of aid, while 10 million people need urgent medical help, they said. Enditem