There are new, grim numbers out of Yemen, after fierce fighting has been raging for many weeks going back to late August renewed war between the Saudi coalition (and its government in Aden), and the Iran-aligned Houthis.
The UN's World Health Organization on Thursday announced its tally of at least 8,513 casualties in the Yemen conflict since August. This is as of Oct.19, the WHO indicated.
According to the breakdown, this included 1,574 fatalities, and 6,939 others injured and wounded. The organization did not specify whether these were civilians or military personnel.
The WHO indicated further that over just the last eight-day period (counting backward from Oct.19), 292 people were killed and 1,048 others were injured.
Civilians have certainly borne a huge brunt of the renewed conflict, also with attacks spilling over into Saudi territory - where over 20 civilians have died, and cities and airports and energy sites have been targeted.
Al Jazeera reported earlier this week that at least a quarter-million people in Yemen have been displaced, which includes populations on both sides of the fighting.
"More than 250,000 people have been internally displaced in Yemen since the country’s war reignited in July, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has said, as fighting between Houthi rebels and forces loyal to the internationally recognized government rages across several fronts," the report said.
"The city of Taiz in southwestern Yemen is at the center of the displacement crisis, accounting for 76 percent of departures and hosting 52 percent of those newly displaced, UNHCR said in a statement on Tuesday," it added.
Additionally, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), "about 33,700 families still require shelter assistance amid severe underfunding of the humanitarian response to the war."
The region has experienced on-and-off outbreaks of war and fighting going all the way back to 2014, when the Saudi-backed government began losing ground to the popular Houthi rebels. At one point the US was much more directly assisting the Saudi air campaign, but currently is said to only be playing an intelligence and advisory role.
Saudi coalition airstrikes have also gone back years, and the new outbreak of fighting has seen hundreds of air raids, which are especially devastating for civilians particularly in urban centers. The Houthis have in turn pummeled Saudi coalition areas with missiles and drones, which have also more frequently been sent across the border into the kingdom itself.
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/un-says-8513-casualties-yemen-august-over-250k-displaced
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