Cologne, 26 March 2023 (dpa/MIA) - Eleven million children are dependent on humanitarian aid in war-torn Yemen, according to the UN children's agency UNICEF.

The United Nation's Children's Fund, as the organization is officially known, warned Friday that 2.2 million Yemeni girls and boys suffer from malnutrition and that without immediate countermeasures the risk would rise further.

More than 540,000 children are so severely malnourished that their lives are in immediate danger if they don't receive treatment, UNICEF said.

Yemen, on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, has been roiled by civil war between a Saudi-led military alliance and the Iran-backed Houthi rebels for years.

The two sides have been at war since 2014, when the Houthis took over the capital Sana'a and other cities, driving government members to flee towards the south.

In March 2015, Saudi Arabia launched a military coalition to support government forces when the Houthis advanced towards the government's temporary seat Aden.

Last year, the UN brokered one of the longest lulls in fighting with a truce between April and October.

According to UNICEF, eight years of civil war have led to the collapse of the economy and therefore the population's basic supply, triggering a devastating humanitarian crisis in the country.

More than 11,000 children were killed or seriously injured in Yemen between 2015 and 2022, according to the organization.

The children's well-being is further threatened by decisions made by families in their distress, including child marriage, child labour or recruitment for military service, UNICEF warned.

The organization said it needs some $484 million to continue its aid for children in Yemen this year, with important measures to secure basic supplies and the children's well-being at risk if that gap isn't filled.