7 million Yemeni people at risk of famine: UN

Some seven million people in Yemen could be put at risk by famine in 2017, Jamie McGoldrick, UN humanitarian coordinator for Yemen warned on Tuesday.

McGoldrick said that an alarming 18.8 million of Yemeni people -- almost two thirds of the population -- need some kind of humanitarian or protection support, UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq told a daily briefing.

In March 2015, Saudi Arabia led a mostly Arab military coalition to fight the dominant Houthi fighters, who seized most of northern Yemen including the capital Sanaa and Red Sea port city of Hodeidah.

Two years of relentless conflict have devastated the lives of millions of people. Over 50,000 civilians have been killed, injured or maimed in the conflict, including at least 1,540 children killed and 2,450 children injured, according to McGoldrick.

In addition, over 1,550 children have been recruited to fight or to perform military related duties, said McGoldrick.

In this regard, he called on all parties to the conflict to return to the negotiating table and end the fighting.

"The time has come for the warring parties to place the very people they claim to be fighting for at the centre of their concerns and end the fighting," said McGoldrick in a statement.

--IANS

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