UNICEF: 10,000 children killed or wounded in Yemen's civil war
Geneva, 19 October 2021 (dpa/MIA) - More than 10,000 children have been killed or injured in over six years of fighting in war-torn Yemen, United Nations children's agency UNICEF said on Tuesday.
UNICEF spokesperson James Elder said the number referred to cases documented by the organization, but that the real figure was likely to be much higher.
Yemen has been roiled by a devastating power struggle between a Saudi-backed government and the Iran-linked Houthi rebel movement since 2015.
According to the UN, the worst humanitarian crisis in the world is raging in Yemen with over 20 million people - or two-thirds of the population - in need of aid following years of fighting.
Four out of five minors - a total of 11 million - depend on humanitarian aid, while some 400,000 children are suffering from severe malnutrition, according to UNICEF.
"They are starving because adults continue to wage a war in which children are the biggest losers," said Elder.
Over 2 million children in Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the Arab world, are not going to school any more, and 1.7 million children and their families have been displaced due to the violence.
Many people also don't have access to clean drinking water, including 8.5 million minors, UNICEF said.