President Donald Trump is calling on Saudi Arabia to end its Yemen blockade immediately, citing humanitarian concerns.

Trump says in a statement Wednesday that he has directed U.S. administration officials to call Saudi Arabian leaders to request that they allow food, fuel, water and medicine to reach the Yemeni people. He says they “desperately need it.”

A Saudi-led coalition has been fighting to defeat the Iran-backed Houthis along with ex-President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s forces in Yemen since March 2015. The coalition has imposed a blockade on the country, with the aim of reinstating the internationally recognized government of Saleh’s successor, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

According to aid groups, Violent clashes in Yemen’s capital of Sanaa in recent days have resulted in at least 125 deaths.

(AP)