Source: RT
The death toll in the Yemeni conflict has surpassed 10,000 people, according to “estimates” from a senior UN official, amidst the ongoing chaos in the war-torn country suffering a tremendous humanitarian disaster.

“I don’t know the figures but the estimates are that over 10,000 people have been killed in this conflict and almost 40,000 people injured,” UN Yemen Humanitarian Coordinator Jamie McGoldrick told the reporters at a press conference in Sanaa.

The estimates seem to be pretty rough, since McGoldrick stated in August last year that “at least 10,000 people” had been killed in the protracted conflict.

Previous estimates voiced by McGoldrick were based on “official information” from medical facilities in Yemen, but now, many areas in the war-ravaged country have no medical facilities left. Both local and internationally-supported hospitals have been struck by Saudi-led coalition planes in numerous incidents often blamed on “mistakes” and “bad intelligence.” The statistics are scarce as the dead are often buried without any official records.

“This is a war of aggression being waged by Saudi Arabia. Civilians are being targeted, they are not simply collateral damage,” Brian Becker, National coordinator of the ANSWER coalition told RT.

While McGoldrick gave no breakdown on civilian casualties, October figures from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), states the conflict has claimed the lives of at least 4,125 civilians and left at least 7,207 wounded, with the majority of the casualties caused by coalition airstrikes.

“These people are committing war crimes routinely, systematically against the people of Yemen. This amounts to Holocaust, not just war crimes it’s Holocaust,” Kim Sharif, a human rights lawyer and director of Human Rights for Yemen, told RT.

“There are about 11 million people in this country who need some sort of protection in terms of human rights, to protect their dignity and their safety,” McGoldrick added at the press conference.

Yemen’s population in 2013 was estimated around 25 million people, which means that roughly a half of Yemenis experience problems with human rights’ implementation and thus need “some sort of protection.” Over 21 million people are in urgent need of “humanitarian assistance,” according to UN World Food Program (WFP) statistics.

“And there’s another 2.9 million living in acutely affected areas, who require legal and other types of support. Some of them are related to being displacement, some of it related to gender-based violence,” McGoldrick added.

However, “legal type of support” might be actually not the most urgent need for Yemenis, since 7.6 million people are “severely food insecure” according to UN’s own statistics.

RT’s Arabic-language crew recently visited the district of Tuhayat on the Red Sea coast, one of these “acutely affected areas.” Most people there, including children, are starving, since the Saudi-led international coalition blockaded the coastal area and deprived the locals from fishing, which was their main source of food, coupled with a an absence of medical care.

The new UN revelations documenting the scale of the humanitarian disaster unfolding in Yemen, came as UN Special Envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, arrived in the southern city of Aden, the temporary capital of the government of president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who was reinstated by the Saudi-led intervention.

The UN envoy was expected to present a new peace plan to Hadi on Monday, according to a spokesman. Previous peace efforts failed, since Hadi urged the Houthis rebels to withdraw from all cities and lay down the arms, while the rebels are pressing for a political deal.

Source: PressTV
The leader of Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement has warned that the US military is preparing the ground for an act of aggression against the war-torn Arab country.

In a televised speech on Thursday, Abdul Malik Badreddin al-Houthi slammed Washington’s recent missile attacks against three mobile radar sites on Yemen’s Red Sea coast, saying the nation and armed forces should stay vigilant and stand fully ready to face the invaders.

“The US is after laying the groundwork for making an invasive move against [western coastal] Hudaydah Province,” the statement said, adding, “Through this measure, the US is after building up pressure on and harassing the people of Yemen.”

“The Yemeni nation will defend its territory, freedom and independence, seeing it as its right to use any legitimate means against violent invasions,” the Houthi leader said.

He made the comments on the anniversary of the October 14, 1963 onset of an armed struggle, which forced the British into withdrawal from southern Yemen.

Lead-up

The US on Wednesday hit Yemen’s radar sites after claiming that the USS Mason, a guided-missile destroyer, had come under the Yemeni attack for the second time in four days.

Yemeni officials have rejected the allegations as “unfounded” aimed at providing a pretext for the intelligence and logistics support which the US has provided to Saudi Arabia in its military campaign.

US accusations came in the wake of a Saudi aerial attack on a funeral which killed more than 140 people attending a wake for the father of Yemen’s interior minister in the capital Sana’a on Saturday.

Ansarullah on Thursday “expressed readiness to work with any United Nations or international body to investigate these allegations and to punish those behind this, regardless who they may be,” the Saba Net news agency reported.

Spokesman for Yemeni forces Brigadier General Sharaf Luqman denounced US missile strikes, saying Yemen reserves the right to defend itself in the face of such threats.

Pentagon on warpath

The Pentagon, however, said it was preparing for possible new strikes in Yemen.

“This is about protecting our people, period,” Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said even though he acknowledged that the US has yet to determine who was responsible for the alleged launch of missiles.

“We don’t know who was pulling the trigger,” but the missiles were launched from “Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen,” Cook claimed.

Many observers believe US allegations of Yemeni attacks on its warships are aimed at turning away attention from the Sana’a carnage and reducing pressure on Washington over its aid to the Saudis.

They say the Yemeni army and its allies are unlikely to have opted for opening a new front, which would only undermine their position in the battle against Saudi Arabia.

Washington, along with the UK, has been a major arms provider to Saudi Arabia, which has been at war against its southern neighbor since March 2015.

The US has supported the Saudi military and its allies with aerial refueling and targeting assistance during the war on Yemen.

By Afraa Dagher
Source: Syria News
Over 10,000 people have been martyred and 13,000 injured in Yemen since the beginning of the Saudi aggression on Yemen, in March 2015. The latest — though not the last — carnage committed by Saudi Wahhabi absolute monarchy and its disgraceful Arabic Coalition, the Arabic NATO bombed the funeral ceremony for the father of Jalal al Roweishan, Yemen’s Interior Minister. This attack on 8 October was organized and planned in an accurate and savage way. The Saudi-NATO coalition chose the target of mourning, where 2,000 Yemenis were gathering for the funeral. This savage slaughter was 5 days after terrorists bombed the Sanabel Wedding Hall, in al Hasakah province of Syria. These savages kill civilians in times of grief and in times of joy.

These Arab leaders are finally united but not to defend their own countries against the greed of the US. These Arab leaders do not defend oppressed people in Palestine. They made the coalition of Arab against Arab for Arab to kill Arab…to serve the enemy. Saudi is ISIS. The rule “Divide and Conquer” is as old as warfare.

At the bombed funeral hall, as soon as people and medical staff rushed to evacuate the injured who were stuck under rubble which caused by Saudi bomber jets, the Saudi aggressor launched its second raids over those innocent people, which claimed the lives of more than 700 [420 killed and over 250 seriously injured – RT] civilians till now, add to many critically wounded. Saudi bombers also launched a third strike on the same target, after that. Western media now report on fake investigations and report more that Saudis denied these savage bombings.

This scene of devastation in Yemen capital of Sana’a, is so similar to the ones in Syria. The differences come in western reporting. On the rare times that the west is forced to mention massacres on Yemen, everyone plays that they do not know how such a thing happened, and investigations will find out (it is difficult to find a western report that does not demonize Iran, though Iran is not bombing Yemen. Saudis are bombing Yemen.). However the terrorists in Syria are covered by the immunity of “moderate rebels.” Saudi, Qatar, US, Israel and also the European Union support both aggressions whether against Yemen or against Syria.

In Syria, you can notice the same devil way in bombing civilians, with the suicide bombers, always two. There is the first bombing, then after people are gathering to help the injured and carry them to hospitals, the other suicide bomber blows himself by those gathering people.

Same master mind, same hands which are stained by the blood of innocent people of this region.

The scene in Yemen, brings also to our memory, the Israeli massacres , in Sabra, Shatila and Qana. Israel’s Netanyahu once spoke of the good friendship between Israel and the Saudis, and hoped to become even closer allies.

Saudi have been bombing hospitals, schools, buildings, every where in Yemen, Exactly as the so called moderate rebels in Syria, who have been attacking hospitals, ceremonies, weddings, schools.

The international community is supporting Saudi to bomb Yemeni people who rejected the Arab Gulf proxy-puppet president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi. In March 2015, Hadi flew to Riyadh [ed. Some western sources so praised him as to suggest he rowed himself in a boat while simultaneously fixing holes in it.] This puppet president went to a foreign country and asked it to bomb his own people and the west reports this as Saudis somehow defending themselves. One day after the arrival of the traitor to Riyadh, Saudis began their genocide bombing campaign against the people of Yemen.

While the west supports traitor Hadi, it punishes us, the Syrian people for standing with our president. The western politicians insult us by saying our votes for President Assad are “illegitimate.”

Moreover, we can compare this Saudi led coalition and its destruction to the Yemeni infrastructures and its crimes against Yemeni People. By the latest war crime of the US led coalition against the Syrian Arab Army position in Deir EL-Zour, during the period of the supposed cessation of hostilities.

Furthermore the air strikes of this coalition against Syrian infrastructure. This coalition has bombed our oil refineries, our power plants, and our civilians.

The ironic point is that the United Nations Security Council has turned a blind eye on the Saudi war crimes against Yemeni people, and the US has its advantage by selling its advanced weapons and it is cluster missiles to Saudi, who by its turn ”tests” them on Yemeni civilians. Saudi coward denies its responsibility about this latest crime. And the UNSC needs to do an investigation. Such a naïve lie; who else would bomb Yemen? Maybe some ghosts there? Yemeni resistance does not have warplanes. All the world that has open eyes knows it is Saudi coalition who have been bombing Yemen since March 2015.

Here also, we need to think about the US aggression over Syrians soldiers. The US pretended that it was an accident, an accident that lasted over 50 minutes of bombings and murdered 83 of our soldiers. The UNSC turned a blind eye on that massacre, too and US Ambassador Power was mad that Russia called an emergency meeting about it.

On 29 September our ambassador to the UN, Dr. Bashar al Ja’afari again accused UN personnel of supporting terrorists in our country.

Source: RT
Fighter jets from the Saudi-led coalition hit the Yemeni capital of Sanaa during a massive rally that attracted some 100,000 pro-Houthi rebels and sympathizers of ex-President Abdullah Saleh.

Tens of thousands of people rallied in Sanaa’s central square on Saturday in a powerful display of support for the Shiite Houthi rebels and Saleh. Demonstrators cheered a recently established Supreme Political Council that includes representatives of the Houthi movement, as well as supporters of Saleh.

The huge gathering also denounced Saleh’s successor, Mansur Hadi, who fled the country last year and is seeking reinstatement with military backing from Saudi Arabia.

During the demonstration, fighter jets bombed Yemen’s capital, including the area around the Presidential palace, according to AP. The bombardment resulted in an “unknown number of casualties,” the agency reports, quoting local officials. People on Twitter said that at least three civilians were killed and a number were wounded.

“Suddenly, they started bombing and the crowd started running. I basically bolted out of the area. People started screaming… Because everybody’s very well armed, they started shooting their AK-47s and their machine guns into the sky,” Hisham al-Omeisy said, as quoted by the BBC.

For its part, Saudi Arabia claimed earlier that a rocket had been launched at Narjan, a Saudi city, from Yemen, killing one person and injuring six others, ArabNews reports.

Saudi Arabia has been repeatedly slammed for causing civilian casualties during its bombing campaign. In the latest case on August 13, at least ten children were killed in an airstrike blamed on the Saudi-led coalition that hit a religious school in northwestern Yemen. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) confirmed that 28 youngsters were also injured in that attack. After Saudi jets hit their hospital, killing 19 people, MSF announced on Thursday that it was pulling its staff out of northern Yemen.

In January of this year, the UN condemned Riyadh for carrying out “widespread and systematic” assaults on civilian targets. “The panel documented 119 coalition sorties relating to violations of international humanitarian law,” the UN stated.

Saudi Arabia, along with eight allies, began a military operation in Yemen in March of 2015 at request of Yemeni President Hadi, a Sunni, who fled the country after Shiite Houthi rebels seized the capital of Sanaa. The rebels recognize Abdullah Saleh, who was ousted earlier, as Yemen’s legitimate president.

A UN backed peace process to end the civil war has so far yielded little result. A Supreme Council recently established by the Houthis has been denounced by the government of President Hadi and Riyadh as well.

The latest round of peace talks between the Houthis and supporters of Hadi collapsed on August 6. The UN expected the sides to get back to the negotiating table in September, however that proposal was brushed aside by the rebels because the Saudis have since ramped up their airstrikes, AP reports.

Meanwhile, after a meeting between Russian special representative for the Middle East, Mikhail Bogdanov, and Yemen’s deputy prime minister in Saudi Arabia, Abdulmalik Al-Mekhlafi, Moscow called on both sides to continue to seek a peaceful solution to the ongoing war.

“During the lengthy conversation, we discussed in detail the military, security, and humanitarian situation in Yemen, stressing the need for an urgent peace solution form the crisis in the country,” Bogdanov was quoted by TASS news agency as saying.

By Vanessa Beeley
21stCenturyWire
The following statement was presented by Arabian Rights Watch Association to the UNHRC [UN Human Rights Commission] during their 32nd session. In this statement US-Yemeni lawyer, Mohammed Al Wazir outlines the ongoing human rights violations being carried out by the US and UK armed Saudi coalition whose collective punishment of 27 million Yemeni people is being cynically endorsed by the UN via their resolution 2216 that is being imposed under the false pretext of the legitimacy of the fugitive, twice resigned ex President Mansour Hadi.

The UN complicity with the Saudi Coalition genocidal war of aggression is explored in this 21st Century Wire article: UN Whitewashing Saudi Coalition War Crimes and International Human Rights Violations.

Saudi Coalition Airstrikes & Blockade Against the People of Yemen Cause a Humanitarian Disaster

IDO, together with Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain, and Arabian Rights Watch Association, express our utmost concern over the Saudi Arabian led Coalition’s (the “Coalition”) a) ongoing serious and systematic rights violations in Yemen, including political, economic, human, and humanitarian rights. These ongoing and systematic violations come in the form of: i) a comprehensive indiscriminate land, air, and sea blockade under the pretense of UN Security Council Resolutions 2140 and 2216 and ii) airstrikes on civilian targets that include the use of internationally banned cluster munitions. We also express our deep concern with the Saudi-led Coalition’s iii) forced expulsion of Yemenis from Aden to Taiz and other northern provinces as well as the iv) lack of neutrality, authority, or political will of Hadi’s National Commission to investigate crimes committed in Yemen.

a) Ongoing Violations of the Laws of War, Human Rights Law & Humanitarian Law

i) Imposition of a comprehensive land, air and sea blockade by the Saudi-led Coalition

The Saudi-led Coalition’s implementation of Resolutions 2140 and 2216 has contributed to food insecurity for an estimated 14.4 million Yemenis, 7.4 million of whom are severely food insecure. Moreover, hundreds of hospitals and clinics have shut down due to the Saudi-led Coalition’s airstrikes and blockade. The blocking of critical fuel and medical supplies effectively denies an estimated 15 million Yemeni people access to basic healthcare needs.

Allowing the free flow of commercial imports and facilitating their distribution to all locations are essential in stemming further increases in humanitarian needs. According to the 2016 Humanitarian Needs Overview, since the crisis began, the Coalition’s blockade – as well as damage to port infrastructure due to air strikes – have added to the humanitarian burden by preventing or discouraging commercial imports into the country:

“Over 90 per cent of staple food (such as cereals) in Yemen was imported prior to the crisis, and the country was using an estimated 544,000 metric tons of fuel per month before the crisis. Fuel is essential to distribute food, pump water and run hospital generators, among other critical activities. In September, OCHA estimated that commercial fuel imports fell to just 1 per cent of monthly requirements, and food imports hit their second-lowest level since the crisis began. These restrictions constitute a major driver of shortages and rising prices of basic commodities, which have in turn contributed to crippling the economy. Health facilities continue to close at alarming rates due to shortages of fuel and other basic supplies. Without critical commodities, needs across sectors are rising, and response efforts are being hampered.”

According to Ahmed Alshami, the Executive Director at Arabian Rights Watch Association, the mechanism used during the past 14 months to search ships for weapons has been abused to block commercial goods and humanitarian aid. Ships are stopped by the Saudi Coalition, delayed from entry for days, weeks or months at a time under the pretext of ongoing weapons searches before being allowed to continue. Some sources report extortion is also used to restrict shipping into Yemen. Some ships are simply denied entry altogether.

We further call attention to the text of the UNSC Resolutions which involve an arms embargo, asset freeze and travel ban on 5 named individuals. These UNSC resolutions do not sanction war, nor do they enact a comprehensive land, air, and sea blockade to police and sanction regular trade, both import and export, in commercial goods, including food, medical and fuel supplies, and humanitarian aid.

We appreciate the efforts announced by the UN Secretary-General to institute a United Nations Verification and Inspection Mechanism (UNVIM) for the facilitation of commercial imports to 3 out of the 5 main ports in Yemen however express concern at the level of awareness regarding the new program. Given the website and forms are still only offered in English, we recommend translating the website and hosted documents into Arabic and launching a corresponding awareness campaign to increase registration participation and compliance.

ii) Airstrikes on civilian targets that include the use of internationally banned cluster munitions

According to the Legal Center for Rights and Development, in the first 12 months of the war, a total of 9136 civilians were documented to have been killed by Saudi-led Coalition airstrikes. 5,271 were men (58%), 1,654 were women (18%), and 2,211 were children (24%). The total number of civilians wounded due to the indiscriminate airstrikes exceeds 16,000. 622 bridges and roads were destroyed along with 135 power plants, 188 water stations, 195 telecom stations, 14 airports, 11 sea ports and harbors, 325,000 residential homes, 250 hospitals and clinics, 43 colleges and universities, 630 schools and causing 3,750 others to close down.

In addition to the indiscriminate use of air power to attack civilian populations, the Saudi-led coalition has also been documented to have used internationally banned cluster munitions on civilian populations in violation of the principles of distinction, proportionality, and military necessity. According to many local and international NGOs, young children have been killed and maimed by unexploded toy-like sub-munitions that can detonate upon touch. A 10 day research trip to Saada, Hajjah and Sanaa by Amnesty International revealed that US, UK, and Brazilian cluster munitions were used by the Saudi Coalition resulting in the death or injury of 16 civilians including nine children, two of whom were killed. According to the report, these casualties took place days, weeks, and sometimes months after the bombs were dropped by coalition forces in Yemen.

iii) Forced Expulsion of Yemenis from Aden by Saudi led Coalition and Hadi government-in-exile

We further raise our continued concern with the Coalition and the Hadi government-in-exile’s ongoing rights violations in Yemen. Particularly, the measure by the government-appointed security forces to expel from Aden over 800 Yemenis with links to the Taiz governorate. This policy is worrisome as it employs discrimination and provincial bigotry threatening the right to life, employment and mobility for thousands of Yemenis. The expulsion which was ordered at the behest of security officers appointed by the Hadi government-in-exile without his express order indicates his lack of control in Aden and raises further questions about his government’s legitimacy. Despite the Hadi government-in-exile’s subsequent disapproval of the expulsion of Yemenis from Aden, it has not managed to end the policy nor remedy those affected. Instead we remain concerned that hundreds more Yemenis are threatened by expulsion to northern governorates.

iv) Inability of Hadi’s national commission to investigate the crimes being committed in Yemen

In the 31st Session of the Human Rights Council, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Kate Gilmore, reported that over 55% of the casualties in Yemen were due to Coalition airstrikes and demanded the beginning of investigations. In response, the Hadi government-in-exile appointed Minister of Human Rights, Izz Aldin Alasbahi, requested a review of the statements made by OHCHR regarding the casualties that occurred in Yemen, disputing the impartiality and accuracy of the Deputy High Commissioner’s assessment. This posture will not lend itself to an impartial investigation into the crimes committed in Yemen.

Taken together, the airstrikes and blockade are measures deliberately inflicted on the whole of the Yemeni people that create conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction, the extent of which appear to constitute crimes against humanity and war crimes. As a belligerent in this multifaceted conflict, neither the National Commission, nor the Saudi Coalition may be reasonably expected to impartially investigate its own role in such crimes. Only through the establishment of an independent, international commission with a mandate to document abuses on all sides, and make impartial recommendations to the UN Security Council for referral to the International Criminal Court, can true accountability be accomplished.

Recommendation

At the 32nd Session of the Human Rights Council, IDO together with Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain, and Arabian Rights Watch Association, urge UN Member States to renew their calls to:

• Call for an end to the war in Yemen, including the ongoing airstrikes and blockade, and the full withdrawal of all foreign forces from the territory of Yemen;
• Establish an independent international commission of inquiry into the crimes being committed by all parties to the war in Yemen, with a mandate to make recommendations to the UN Security Council to transfer cases to International Criminal Court.
• Extend the arms embargo to include members of the Saudi-led Coalition for their role in perpetuating violations of humanitarian law and the laws of war in Yemen;
• Facilitate humanitarian access to all areas in need of assistance;
• Provide support to Yemen in its struggle to combat violent extremism; and
• Facilitate Yemeni to Yemeni dialogue without the intervention of regional powers.

Source: The Wall Will Fall
365 Days are Longer Than a Year
Tell me how did you spend the last 365 days? Did you end up getting that job offer? Did you get that scholarship you were working so hard to get? Did you graduate high

school/university or perhaps you just got your pHD! Whatever you achieved I congratulate you!
Well I’d like to speak of my 365 days.

You know how we always chant the phrase day by day it all seems the same but looking back it’s so different. I aged a life time within 365 days. I have experienced so much from fleeing my home to running down a set of 70 stairs in fear of a jet blowing up our third floor. Crying for nights and nights feeling death encircling me to laughing to the sound of explosions. Yes, I have lived some of the worst days of my life but I wouldn’t change them for the world. Only now have I realized what an enormous amount of pride comes with being Yemeni.

I am now in my senior year and I have broke down into fits of tears more times than I can count in school due to the sudden air raids but my friends support me with a jolt of strength I’ve never experienced before. This year everything is so different. once I was crying in class from a mix of fear and stress then suddenly the whole class surrounded me with a group hug and I don’t remember feeling so loved in my entire life. This coalition has done and is still doing damage that seems irreparable at time but one thing that no one but them has managed to do is unite this country into one.

I feel so complete. Now I know I am capable of facing anything life throws at me, I know I am strong enough. I will always have a constant reminder of my strength the blood of the martyrs who sacrificed everything for me to be able to live a life, a life worth living. It’s truly quite peculiar how even though death has the key to my back door I sleep safe and sound. I still do get grounded and I still am clumsy you’d think death would make me a bit more graceful but nope! I still am the same girl who runs around tables and makes weird faces at my mom to make her laugh cause oh boy does her laugh make me feel five again.

365 days are enough to change people’s perspectives, their ideologies. 365 days of undeniable strength, of determination. 365 days are no longer just a year.

****
August 7th 2015
As I lay breathing, safe and sound. Cuddled up in my blanket hearing the birds chirping. It hits me once again, he is dead. Gone. Gone for eternity. He has bid his farewells to this cruel world.

Around a month ago I visited a few of the +9000 wounded due to the Saudi Led Coalition, at that time we were working on an Eid project, we were supposed to get each of the injured to say “Eid Mubarak”. We got the chance to hear their tragic miseries.
However, he was different, this is his story:

He was on a bus with 17 other people when the missile hit. They all perished, he was the lone survivor. He didn’t leave in one piece he lost both legs and was deeply wounded and burnt.
He was too fatigued to speak, he didn’t want to say “Eid Mubarak”. He felt like his life was futile, vain. He is burned, scarred for life. For a sin he didn’t commit.

While awaiting for him to prepare mentally and emotionally, one of the nurses mentioned the fact he doesn’t have a wheel chair. He can’t afford one.

He wasn’t able to afford a poor quality wheelchair that costed 80$. We buy handbags for that price. We go out for coffee spending that much. We told the nurse we’d buy it for him, there’s no problem in that, after all it’s just $80.

He returned to the injured man and told him, his eyes filled with tears he retrieved the long lost hope. He had faith in humanity once again. He couldn’t believe what he had heard, he finally could envisage how life would be as a disabled man. I couldn’t believe what I saw he was worried how he would stroll around rather than mourning on the loss of both legs in a blink of an eye.

He then said in a very low voice : Eid Mubarak.

I received the receipt for the wheel chair around 10 days ago, I smiled as I remembered his beautiful smile.

The days passed and a week ago as I was with my group, a girl suddenly popped in and said I have something to say, her face was free of emotions I imagined she came to ask if we’d like tea or coffee as we were at her sister’s residence. She said:

“What would you like to do with the wheelchair you bought?”

I glared at her for what seemed like eternity. She said:
“The man died today and I wanted to know what you’d like to do with it?”
Everything around me blurred and my eyes were flooding with tears, they started pouring down as I looked up to my Mom. She had been talking for the past few minutes telling me not to cry and to reminisce that he is now in a better place. But I solemnly swear it felt like I lost a part of my being. My whole life seemed unavailing. I felt numb, deaden.

All I managed to spout out was:
Does he have children, a wife?

I received no answer. No one knew.

As we drove back home, I entered my room and in front of me was the receipt I broke down yet again.

I never imagined that lives could end so easily. They can pass by unseen. The moment I think this coalition might come to an end. I thought my fervent will to avenge them was about to wear off, it rather has ignited once again.