Escalating conflict drives new displacement in Yemen

The escalating conflict in Yemen is choking off aid shipments and driving fresh displacement, including to nearby Djibouti, with UN agencies reporting on Tuesday that nearly 100,000 people have been displaced since fighting intensified earlier this month.Key points93,864 individuals have been newly displaced across Yemen, said the International Organization for Migration (IOM)Rapidly escalating hostilities along Yemen’s western coast have forced thousands more to seek safety across the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in Djibouti, said the UN refugee agency, UNHCRContinued insecurity could affect humanitarian and commercial shipping serving Yemen and other crisis-affected countries with emergency suppliesNearly half of Yemen’s 41 million people need aid as acute hunger continues to growThe ongoing recent clashes between Saudi-backed Yemeni Government forces and Iran-backed Houthi militia have triggered widespread displacement across Aden, Al Hodeidah, Abyan and Ta’iz, reflecting the widening geographic scope of the crisis, IOM said, calling for urgent support to meet the shelter, water and sanitation needs of newly displaced families.At the same time, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said the fig...