Spectre of famine looms over war-ravaged Yemen

By Ayse Bektas

ANKARA (AA) - Impoverished Yemen, which has remained in a state of civil war for more than two years, faces one of the world's most severe humanitarian crises, with approximately 20 million people in dire need of assistance.

As a result of the ongoing conflict, many Yemenis are unable to obtain the most basic commodities, including food.

Earlier this week, the UN said that one child dies every 10 minutes in Yemen as a direct result of chronic aid shortfalls.

Yemen’s Al-Hudaydah Port, a crucial transit hub for aid shipments, has been rendered inoperable due to the ongoing conflict.

UN officials also stated that at least $2.1 billion was needed to avert wide-scale famine in Yemen, of which only some $315 million -- roughly 15 percent -- had so far materialized.

Yemen has remained in chaos since 2014, when the Shia Houthi militia group overran capital Sanaa and other parts of the country.

In 2015, Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a massive air campaign in Yemen aimed at reversing Houthi military gains and restoring the country’s Saudi-backed government.

Last year, the government and the Houthi rebels entered into UN-sponsored peace negotiations.

But the talks failed to resolve the conflict, in which more than 10,000 Yemenis have been killed and another 3 million displaced, according to UN figures.

*Ali Murat Alhas contributed to this report from Ankara