Only during last January and February, at least 47 children were killed or maimed in various parts of the country, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) condemned in a statement.
“Since the conflict escalated in Yemen almost seven years ago, the UN has verified that more than 10,000 minors have been killed or injured, although the real number is probably much higher,” he stressed.
Faced with this situation, the agency called on all parties to the war to protect civilians, especially that sector of the population.
The Committee of the International Red Cross (ICRC) affirmed yesterday that more than 20 million Yemenis, out of a population of 30.5 million, lack access to basic medical care and 16.2 million are threatened by lack of food.
Barely 51 percent of health centers are in service after almost eight years of war, which makes medical care a luxury, lamented that institution.
The ICRC highlighted that more than a million landmines and unexploded ordnance are planted throughout the country, causing deaths and injuries on a daily basis.
The war began in 2014, when the rebels took up arms and occupied large parts of the country, including its capital, Sana’a.
The following year an Arab coalition, led by Saudi Arabia, intervened in the conflict in support of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
According to the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, two-thirds of the population, some 20 million people, depend on humanitarian assistance and 80 percent live below the poverty line.
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