Cholera death toll in Yemen rises to 728: WHO

By Ali Oweida

MAARIB, Yemen (AA) - At least 728 people have died since a cholera epidemic broke out in Yemen in late April, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

"Over 91,400 suspected cholera cases have been recorded," the WHO’s Yemen office said via Twitter on Tuesday.

The organization went on to urge the international community to step up efforts to contain the health crisis.

Several international organizations -- including the WHO, UNICEF and the Red Cross -- have recently stepped up the delivery of medical supplies to Yemen, where local health authorities have struggled to cope with the outbreak.

Local officials say that continued fighting between forces loyal to Yemen’s Saudi-backed government -- currently based in the city of Aden -- and the Shia Houthi militia group have frustrated efforts to deal with the crisis.

Impoverished Yemen has remained in a state of civil war since 2014, when the Houthis and their allies overran much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

In 2015, Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies 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 conflict to date, while more than 11 percent of the country’s population has been displaced as a direct result of the conflict.