Over 3 million displaced by conflict in Yemen
A joint report by the UNHCR and IOM says the crisis has forced an estimated 3,154,572 to flee their homes in search of safety.
Smoke rises from a snack food factory after a Saudi-led air strike hit it in Sanaa, Yemen, August 9, 2016. Image: Reuters.
A joint report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) says more than 3 million Yemenis have been displaced by the ongoing conflict in the Arab country.
Ita Schuette, the UNHCR's Deputy Representative in Yemen said:
He added, "More than 3 million people now live in very transient and precarious situations, struggling to cover basic needs."
The report says an estimated 3,154,572 have so far been displaced.
For those displaced, the primary challenges continued to be the basic essentials like food, shelter and drinking water.
Click here to read the report.
Scores Killed
In the most recent wave of violence, at least 56 people, mostly Houthi rebels, were killed on Friday.
Saudi-led warplanes struck a meeting of Houthi rebels in the Hajjah province in northwestern Yemen, the Yemeni army said in a statement.
"At least 20 Houthi militants were killed in the raid," the statement said, giving no further details.
There was no comment from the Saudi-led coalition on the report.
Twenty-one Houthis were also killed in clashes with forces aligned with Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi in the central Taiz province.
A damaged building in the war-torn southwestern city of Taiz, Yemen August 17, 2016. Image: Reuters.
"Seven pro-government troops were also killed in the violence," pro-Hadi fighters said in a statement.
In another development, seven Houthis and allied forces of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh were killed in clashes with pro-government fighters in the northern Jawf province.
Yemen has been ravaged by civil war since late 2014, when Houthi rebels overran capital Sanaa and a number of other provinces, forcing Hadi and his Saudi-backed government to temporarily flee to Riyadh.
A worker looks for survivors under the rubble of a food factory hit by Saudi-led air strikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016. Image: AP.
In March of last year, Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a massive military campaign in Yemen with the aim of reversing Houthi military gains and restoring Hadi's embattled government.
Backed by Saudi-led air strikes, pro-Hadi forces have since managed to reclaim large areas of the country's south -- including provisional capital Aden -- but have failed to retake Sanaa and other strategic areas.
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