Yemen violence deepens concerns over child hunger crisis

Aid agencies in Yemen highlighted the growing hunger emergency sparked by renewed fighting between Houthi opposition forces and Government troops, after mobile health clinics reported that hundreds of children displaced by the violence are suffering from the most deadly form of malnutrition.Key pointsMore than one in four screened children are acutely malnourishedAround 200 children screened have severe acute malnutritionAt least 15 children have been killed since 3 SeptemberOf nearly 2,900 children screened in areas where there is safe humanitarian access, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that more than one in four was acutely malnourished, while around 200 were sick with severe acute malnutrition. “This is only a glimpse of how devastating the situation is across Yemen; every day we are seeing more and more cases,” said Akhil Iyer, the agency’s top official in the country. Testimonies from some of the approximately 130,000 people who have fled clashes in the southwest illustrate how civilians have been severely impacted by the fighting in recent weeks, after years of food and nutrition crises. “We spoke to Haifa, a young mother who fled Yemen's west coast as well, and she tol...