Yemeni Conflict Leaves Over 1,600 Dead in 2 Months - UN Official
13:38 15.05.2015(updated 14:01 15.05.2015)
UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen Johannes Van Der Klaauw said that than 1,600 people were killed and more than 6,200 were injured in Yemen since the civil conflict intensified in late March.
GENEVA (Sputnik) – The number of people killed in Yemen since the civil conflict intensified in late March has topped 1,600, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen Johannes Van Der Klaauw said Friday.
'The impact of the conflict has shown that it has a dreadful toll on civilians. Two months into the conflict that have been recorded, and these are conservative figures, more than 1,600 people killed and more than 6,200 injured by airstrikes and also [from] fighting on the ground,' the official said
He added that some 450,000 people have been displaced as a result of the continuing violence.
An internal conflict in Yemen intensified in early 2015 after Houthi rebels seized large parts of the country, including capital Sanaa.
The number of victims rose drastically after a Saudi-led coalition of mainly Gulf states began carrying out airstrikes on Houthi positions at the request of displaced Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi in late March.
In April, the coalition's month-long air campaign was nominally replaced with an operation aimed at countering terrorism and finding a political solution to the crisis, but the airstrikes continued.
A five-day humanitarian ceasefire was announced in Yemen on Tuesday night in a bid to deliver aid to those injured and displaced by the violence.
© Sputnik
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