UN says Yemen war killed over 1,500 children in two years

UNICEF said the conflict in Yemen also maimed 2,450 children since a Saudi-led coalition mounted an air campaign in support of the government in March 2015.

A woman sits with her children near their tent at a camp for internally displaced people in Dharawan, near the capital Sanaa, Yemen, February 28, 2017.
TRT World and Agencies

A woman sits with her children near their tent at a camp for internally displaced people in Dharawan, near the capital Sanaa, Yemen, February 28, 2017.

The conflict between the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels has killed nearly 7,700 people, including over 1,500 children, since a Saudi-led coalition mounted an offensive on the rebels two years ago, UN agencies said on Monday.

A Saudi-led Arab coalition launched an air campaign in support of President Abdrabbuh Mansoor Hadi in March 2015, after Shia Houthi rebels seized Yemen's capital of Sana'a in September 2014.

The UN children's agency UNICEF said that by March 10, more than 1,500 children were killed and 2,450 others maimed in Yemen.

During that same period 1,801 boys and 649 girls were wounded while 1,572 boys were recruited to serve as child soldiers, said UNICEF.

Loyalists backed by the Saudi-led coalition have driven the rebels out of five southern provinces which they had seized, including Aden, in the summer of 2015.

The UN's World Health Organization said the conflict has wounded more than 42,550 since the coalition intervened.

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