Yemen: 10,000 Killed in Conflict, U.N. Reports

The death toll in Yemen's conflict has surpassed 10,000 people, according to the United Nations.

U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, Jamie McGoldrick, said that almost 40,000 people had also been injured in the crisis, which began in March 2015. The civil war is between Iranian-backed Houthi rebels and the Yemeni government, which has received military backing from a Saudi Arabia-led coalition.

McGoldrick said that the conflict had left Yemen as the site of one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. "There are 7 million people who don't know where their next meal is coming from," he said, the BBC reported.

Houthi rebels forced Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi into exile in March 2015 after seizing control of large swathes of the country, including the capital Sana'a. Saudi Arabia launched airstrikes against the Houthis in the same month and has recently admitted to using cluster bombs—which fragment into tiny bomblets upon impact and pose a particular risk to civilians—during its campaign.

The U.N. envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, met with President Hadi in the Yemeni port city of Aden—which is under government control—on Monday, hoping to revive a peace deal. A previous proposal for a unity government was rejected by President Hadi.

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About the writer


Conor is a staff writer for Newsweek covering Africa, with a focus on Nigeria, security and conflict.

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