As bombs fall, no end in sight for Yemenis' nightmare

Rare look at the humanitarian toll of Yemen's civil war

After three months of a bombing campaign led by Saudi Arabia, Yemen is in the grips of a humanitarian crisis, reports CBS News correspondent Clarissa Ward.

Aid groups are calling the situation catastrophic and civilians are bearing the brunt of this conflict. Many houses have been destroyed and desperately needed water, gas and medical supplies are not able to get into the country.

At the Thawra Hospital, rooms are filled with people who have been injured by the bombing. But ICU doctor Ali al-Mustafa explained that they simply don't have the supplies they need to properly treat them all.

Yemen Civil War

"No water, no electricity, no medicines, no dialysis and no doctors even," he said, calling the crisis "alarming" and warning that the hospital could be forced to halt operations "at any moment."

Yemen is the poorest country in the Arab world and an estimated 80 percent of people are in need of aid.

A Saudi blockade by air and by sea means that very little is getting into the country and the continued bombardment has made it difficult for aid workers and supplies to move around.

Outgoing anti-aircraft rounds and jets could be heard overhead as the Saudi-led coalition carried out bombing raids in the mountains just outside Sanaa. It's the sound of everyday life in the ancient Yemeni capital.

Throughout the city, lines of cars waiting for gasoline stretch over a mile long and three lanes deep. There is a desperate shortage of water, trash clogs the streets and electricity is only available for a few hours every week.

Smoke billows following an air-strike by the Saudi-led coalition on an army arms depot, now under Shiite Huthi rebel control on May 22, 2015 east of the Yemeni capital Sana'a. MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP/Getty Images

And for now, there is no end in sight.

Peace talks in Geneva are expected to begin Tuesday between the two sides in this war, but few are optimistic that they will yield any real progress.

The hope is that some ceasefire can be agreed upon before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins in two days.

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