A young man in his thirties, Moath Salem Al-Selwi, wakes up every day with great pain since 2016 until now due to the loss of his hand and foot as a result of the ongoing war in Yemen that he was one of its victims suffering severe physical and psychological damage to him and his family.
There is no loss that can be compensated when a person loses his right hand and his left foot, his life turns into hell, torment and daily suffering that cannot be described, pain compounded by the feeling of oppression that pervades many of the innocent victims who have been hit by shrapnel from the bombing, shells and war in which they have no interest in any way.
This is the case of Moath since the beginning of the war about seven years ago, as he used to work in a car mechanic workshop in Aser area of the capital, Sana'a, which was targeted by a raid of the coalition warplanes led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and resulted in injuring his foot and hand due to the big explosion that occurred in the workshop in which he was working. After he woke up from his coma that lasted for several days, Moath was surprised that he was unable to move his foot and hand, because they weren't there in the first place. It was difficult times for this young man who went into a state of psychological and physical collapse that he did not recover from until today.
The war that has been going on in Yemen for seven years has left tragic conditions for most of the population in the country. Some of them were hit by shells, rockets, and bombing by the Arab coalition, led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, while poverty, hunger, unemployment, oppression and tyranny have ravaged the largest proportion of the Yemeni people, who are being engulfed by the largest humanitarian crisis in the world, according to the classification of the United Nations.
At the same time, the flow of weapons to Yemen continues to fuel both sides of the war; Ansar Allah group (Houthis), and the internationally recognized government, while the countries of the coalition continue to conclude arms deals, the latest of which was announced last week by the approval of the US Department of Defense, "Pentagon", on a deal to supply weapons to Saudi Arabia, including 280 missiles, at a cost of 650 Million dollars.
It is the first deal made under President Biden, as campaigns against selling weapons to the two coalition countries in Yemen led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE have recently increased, and Congress has interacted with them and criticized them constantly because of their use in Yemen war that has been going on since 2015.
Mental and physical breakdown
The tragedy that the young man Moath is experiencing, who used to be a dedicated worker in his profession since an early age, to be a crippled person unable to work – reflects the catastrophic consequences of this war and the innocent victims of various groups and ages, whose lives and dreams were shattered, as was the case of the young man, Moath Salem, who dreamed, like other young people, of settling down and building a beautiful home for his small family to live in dignity.
Moath told "Khuyut" that he has never failed to do his work, and did not hesitate to give everything he could; Sincerity and dedication to his profession even in the darkest and harshest conditions of war, to be punished in a horrible way in which he is not guilty.
Moath has not only lost his hand and foot, but also he lost the job that he used to practice and the source of income that he and his family lived on, and even lost his dreams and ambitions when he became no longer needed according to his employer. Moath has been suffering a great psychological frustration, which affected his health, as he recently suffered a deep vein thrombosis in his other foot.
Unknown fate
Moath summarizes the suffering of many young people in Yemen who were victims of this war and many of them were injured in their homes and workplaces, despite their non-participation in it and their refusal to join any of the warring parties. They preferred to continue the life of struggle they live as a result of losing many of their jobs, salaries due to this conflict, which targeted the lives and livelihood of most Yemenis.
Moath confirms that he and his family live a harsh life. The injury destroyed his dreams while he was still a young man. His family has been displaced causing pain and suffering to the hearts of 3 children who saw their father without a hand or a foot, because of the war they will never know the cause of.
The other side of this tragedy is represented in the fact that this family lives in a small corner of the workshop in which Moath used to work, then his employer did not allow him and his family to sleep there anymore, and refused to secure any income for them.
His family is now facing the threat to dismissal of this place, because the owner of the land on which the workshop is located wants to get it back.
Additionally, Moath's wife talks with grief and pain, saying that they face an unknown fate, she may move to live on the roadsides, with her children and her desperate husband, who has no feet or hand. The wife ended her statement with bitter tears and fear over a state she did not expect one day, which was not their fault, and they do not know why everyone ignores their unbearable tragedy.
