85,000 Children May Have Died from Starvation in Yemen

Rasa - As many as 85,000 children in Yemen starved to death in the past three years during its brutal war, an aid group reported on Wednesday.

News ID: 441668

Date: 22 November 2018 - 13:38

RNA - Using data compiled by the United Nations, Save the Children evaluated mortality rates for untreated cases of severe acute malnutrition in children under five-years old, Middle East News reported.

The humanitarian agency found some 84,701 children may have starved to death between April 2015 and October 2018 because of a lack of food.

"We are horrified that some 85,000 children in Yemen may have died because of extreme hunger since the war began," Tamer Kirolos, Save the Children's director in Yemen, said in a statement.

"Children who die in this way suffer immensely as their vital organ functions slow down and eventually stop… Parents are having to witness their children wasting away, unable to do anything about it," Kirolos added.

The World Food Programme has also stated that up to 14 million Yemenis are now at risk of starvation as fighting rages in Hudaydah.

"Any further decline in imports could likely lead directly to famine," it warned.

Saudi-backed militiamen loyal to Yemen's former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and foreign mercenaries launched a “vast offensive” to take full control of the country’s strategic Western city of Hudaydah as the Riyadh regime presses ahead with its atrocious bombardment campaign against its Southern neighbor. Fighting near Hudaydah has escalated since June 13 after the Saudi-UAE alliance launched a wide-ranging operation to seize the strategic seaport.

Mariam Aldogani, Save the Children's field coordinator in Yemen, has stressed that the people in Hudaydah are living in a "state of fear", noting that it's "the worst time for Hudaydah children".

UNICEF has recently warned that the Saudi-led coalition’s attack on the Yemeni port city of Hudaydah could have catastrophic consequences for civilians, especially malnourished children in urgent need of care.

Official UN figures say that more than 10,000 people have been killed in Yemen since the Saudi-led bombing campaign began in March 2015. But the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) believes that at least 56,000 people have lost their lives in the war. The violence has also left around two-thirds of Yemen’s population of 27 million relying on aid amid an ongoing strict naval and aerial blockade. According to the world body, Yemen is suffering from the most severe famine in more than 100 years.

A number of Western countries, the US and Britain in particular, are accused of being complicit in the ongoing aggression as they supply the Riyadh regime with advanced weapons and military equipment as well as logistical and intelligence assistance.

An Oxfam representative stated that the US, UK, and French governments are behind millions of people starving in Yemen because they are “supporting this war".

“We have 14 million people starving,” Richard Stanforth, Oxfam UK’s regional policy officer for the Middle East, told RT, adding that "British, French, American governments are all behind this, they are all supporting this war".

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