International Shia News Agency

WHO: More than 540 killed 1,700 wounded and 100,000 displaced in Yemen since a military conflict began

SHAFAQNA – More than 540 people have been killed in Yemen since a military conflict began in the Arab country in mid-March, the World Health Organization has confirmed. “More than 540 people have been killed and some 1,700 others wounded by the violence in Yemen since 19 March,” said Christian Lindmeier, a spokesman for the WHO on Tuesday. The official elaborated that the death toll is related to the time period between March 19 and April 6, 2015. An estimated 100,000 people have been displaced across Yemen since Saudi Arabia launched its unlawful military aggression on March 26. Riyadh’s attack, which has come without a UN mandate, was meant to undermine the ruling Ansarullah movement and restore power to the country’s fugitive former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.

Ansarullah fighters took over state matters in January, citing inability of the Hadi administration to properly run the affairs of the country and contain terror and corruption. In a further development, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said Tuesday that at least 74 children have been killed and more than 40 other injured in almost three weeks of deadly violence in Yemen.

“Children are paying an intolerable price for this conflict…They are being killed, maimed and forced to flee their homes, their health threatened and their education interrupted,” said a statement by the UNICEF Yemen Representative Julien Harneis, adding that the children “should be immediately afforded special respect and protection by all parties to the conflict, in line with international humanitarian law.”

A UNICEF spokesman also said that around one million Yemeni children have become effectively unable to attend school. Christophe Boulierac said that more children may become victims of the conflict as it is affecting the health services, vaccinations and the quality of the drinking water.

Source : Press TV

 

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