He Died Begging for Bread: Yemeni Child’s Innocent Wait for His Father to Wake Shatters a Nation
Crushed by Hunger, Abandoned by Power: The Tragic End of a Yemeni Father and the Son Who Couldn’t Save Him
A Yemeni citizen succumbed to starvation on a sidewalk in the Houthi-controlled city of Ibb during the fourth day of Eid al-Fitr, following months of battling hunger and extreme poverty. He left behind four children, including one who helplessly witnessed his father’s final moments, unaware that life had already slipped away.
Heart-wrenching images of the victim, Yasser Ahmed Saleh Al-Bakar, circulated widely on social media. The photos showed his lifeless body in the Al-Ma’ayn district, northwest of Ibb, with an unfinished piece of bread in front of him and an untouched water bottle nearby.
One particularly devastating image captured his young son, Ammar, clutching a piece of cake and juice handed to him by a passerby to share with his father. The child, oblivious to the tragedy, stood beside his father’s body, waiting in vain for him to wake.
Local sources revealed Al-Bakar hailed from the impoverished Sha’b Yafa’ region in rural Ibb. Despite battling chronic illnesses, he trekked daily to the city in a desperate search for work to feed his family. His final moments—collapsing on a public street—mirror the fate of countless Yemenis who perished from hunger during the nation’s darkest chapters, drawing stark parallels to historical famines under the Imamate rule.
The incident ignited public fury, with Yemenis blaming the Houthi militia for systemic economic collapse that has pushed thousands to the brink of starvation. Critics accuse the group’s leadership of siphoning national resources, withholding salaries, and stripping citizens of their basic right to survival—all while militia elites flaunt lavish lifestyles.
Social media erupted with condemnations of the Houthi leadership, highlighting the grotesque disparity between their opulence and the suffering of ordinary Yemenis. The outcry underscores a nation fractured by inequality, where militia leaders monopolize power and wealth as millions struggle to survive.
Al-Bakar’s death stands as a grim symbol of Yemen’s unrelenting humanitarian catastrophe. In a country where hunger and death are now inseparable, his story echoes the silent cries of countless victims—a haunting reminder of the toll exacted by Houthi greed and the world’s indifference.
