10mn Yemeni children in need of assistance: UNICEF

By Mohamed al-Samei

SANAA, Yemen (AA) - Some 10 million children in Yemen are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, according to the United Nations children's fund (UNICEF).

In a statement posted on its official Facebook page, UNICEF’s Yemen office said that most children in Yemen lacked basic medical care, adequate nutrition, fresh drinking water, suitable sanitation and education.

It went on to say that UNICEF was working with local authorities across the war-torn country -- and with local and international aid organizations -- with a view to helping as many children as possible.

UN agencies have repeatedly warned that Yemen’s three-year-long conflict has decimated the country's public health sector.

Impoverished Yemen has remained in a state of civil war since 2014, when Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including capital Sanaa.

In 2015, a Saudi-led Arab coalition launched a massive air campaign aimed at reversing Houthi military gains and shoring up Yemen’s embattled government.

According to UN officials, more than 10,000 people have been killed in the ongoing war, while more than 11 percent of the country’s population has been displaced as a direct result of the conflict.