Charity says millions of Yemenis are edging closer to famine

The Norwegian Refugee Council says millions of Yemenis are edging closer to famine and fatal disease one year after a Saudi-led coalition imposed a blockade on sea, land and air routes in the Arab world's poorest country.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-backed Shiite Houthi rebels had restricted access to Yemen in November last year after a missile assault by rebels targeted the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

Jan Egeland of the Norwegian Refugee Council said late Monday "the past 12 months have been a never-ending nightmare for Yemeni civilians."

The Saudi-led coalition has been at war with the Houthi rebels since March 2015 in a stalemated conflict that has generated the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

 

The charity says the war has left 12 million people at imminent risk of descending into famine.