More than 11,000 children have been killed or maimed. (Represent)
Dubai:
More than 11,000 children are believed to have been killed or injured in Yemen’s civil war since it escalated nearly eight years ago, the United Nations said on Monday.
“The true toll of this conflict could be much higher,” children’s agency UNICEF said of the casualties in the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
“Thousands of children have died, hundreds of thousands more are still at risk of dying from preventable diseases or starvation,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.
UNICEF says about 2.2 million Yemeni children are acutely malnourished, a quarter of them under the age of five, and most at high risk of cholera, measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases. other.
The Yemen war broke out in 2014 and quickly saw Iran-backed Huthi rebels seize the capital Sanaa, prompting Saudi-led forces to intervene to support the government the following year.
Hundreds of thousands of people have died since then, either from war or indirectly from unsafe drinking water, disease outbreaks, famine, and other impacts.
The agency’s latest numbers confirm 3,774 child deaths between March 2015 and September 2022.
A UN-brokered ceasefire lasted six months until October 2, but the warring parties subsequently disagreed on an extension.
Since then, at least 62 children have been killed or injured, UNICEF said.
“An urgent extension of the truce would be a positive first step in enabling vital humanitarian access,” Ms Russell said.
“Ultimately, only a lasting peace will allow families to rebuild their broken lives and start planning for the future.”
The UN agency also said 3,904 boys have been recruited into the war over the years and more than 90 girls have been assigned roles that include working at checkpoints.
UNICEF has called for $484.4 million in funding to address the humanitarian crisis.
“If Yemen’s children have any chance of a good future… then all influencers must ensure that they are protected and supported,” Ms. Russell said.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)
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