With the advent of Eid al-Fitr, the festival of animal sacrifice that marks the end of the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, Yemenis, like other Muslims of the world, thronged the cattle markets in hope of purchasing sacrificial animals.

But this year, most of the people in the war-ravaged Arab country are complaining about the recent skyrocketing prices of sacrificial animals days ahead of Eid al-Fitr, which falls on Aug. 11 this year.

Many Yemeni citizens seemed more interested in gawking at thousands of animals available in the markets, but cannot afford to buy any because of their high prices.

In the southern port city of Aden, purchasing a sheep needs between 80,000 and 90,000 Yemeni riyals (137 to 150 U.S. dollars), while prices of big bulls reached unfixed rates around 585,000 (1,000 U.S. dollars) in the cattle markets of the city.

For many poor or average citizens, including Saleh Kassim, who is a displaced Yemeni citizen from the war-torn southern province of Dhalea, purchasing a sheep or a goat turned to be a luxury thing this year.

"Many livestock markets in Aden and neighboring provinces are full of sheep, but people with low income or average families cannot buy because of the high prices," Kassim said.

"People may not be able to perform the tradition of slaughtering sheep during Eid al-Fitr this year and turn to buy a few kilos of meat from the butchery," he added.

A number of livestock traders attributed the exorbitant prices of sacrificial animals to the blockade of roads as a result of the ongoing fighting in Yemen as well as high fees.

One of the livestock traders told Xinhua that "we face many difficulties in transferring animals from other provinces into Aden or elsewhere as some roads are blocked or filled with landmines."

He pointed out that some traders abandoned buying and selling sacrificial animals this season because of the mounting risks and obstacles of transportation.

"Some traders from Hodeidah were unable to transfer their animals out of the province as the sporadic fighting there is still taking place in many areas," he added.

Many Yemeni families used to buy animals days ahead of Eid al-Fitr to sacrifice during the first day of this annual festival and distribute the meat among the family members, but this year, it seems that meat became luxury in the war-ravaged Arab country.

"This year, only families with high income can afford to buy sacrificial animals for Eid while other poor families will be without meat," said Tahir Mohamed, Yemeni citizen.

The impoverished Arab country has been locked into a civil war since the Iran-backed Shiite Houthis overran much of the country militarily and seized all northern provinces, including the capital Sanaa, in 2014.

Saudi Arabia leads an Arab military coalition that intervened in Yemen in 2015 to support the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after Houthis forced him into exile.

The internal military conflict between the Iranian-backed Houthis and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government has entered its fifth year, aggravating the suffering of Yemenis and deepening the already world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Three-quarters of the entire population, or more than 22 million Yemenis, urgently require humanitarian help, including 8.4 million who struggle to find their next meal. 

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