Geneva: More than a half million Yemenis have fled their homes due to the conflict plaguing the Arab country since March, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), announced on Tuesday that the conflict has left 1,849 people dead and 7,394 other injured, according to the figures registered in health centers up to May 15, reports Efe.
The UNHCR assessed situations in 40 different locations during last week’s five-day humanitarian cease-fire, registering the number of internally displaced people and those who have fled the country.
According to the current estimates, more than 545,000 people have been forced to leave their homes.
During the UNHCR’s visits to areas subject to heavy fighting, “scores of children were found to be malnourished, while the accumulation of garbage makes crowded situations worse, raising fears that disease will spread,” agency spokesman Adrian Edwards told journalists in Geneva.
Edwards also explained that food, equipment and fuel were distributed during the truce, but that all such efforts were insufficient to meet actual needs, calling for another humanitarian window to distribute more aid.
The five-day cease-fire went into force on May 12, but it failed to supply the affected population with aid and put no end to the fighting.
Hours before its expiry, the UN special envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, asked parties involved in the conflict to extend it for another five days, but the truce ended on Sunday night without being renewed.
The Shiite Houthi rebel militias announced on Tuesday that they welcome a new truce with a view to ending the blockade and air strikes in Yemen, while Saudi Arabia considers the prospect.