Children dying by the thousands in Yemen

DUBAI/ADEN: An estimated 85,000 children under 5 may have died from extreme hunger in Yemen since a Saudiled coalition intervened in the civil war in 2015, an aid agency said, as the United Nations special envoy arrived in Yemen to pursue peace talks.

Western countries are pressing for a ceasefire and renewed peace efforts to end the disastrous conflict, which has unleashed the world’s most urgent humanitarian crisis with 8.4 million people believed to be on the verge of starvation.

Save the Children said that a conservative estimate based on UN data showed 84,700 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition may have died between April 2015 and October 2018, when a Westernbacked Arab alliance has been battling the Iranaligned Houthi movement that holds the capital Sanaa.

‘‘We are horrified that some 85,000 children in Yemen may have died because of the consequences of extreme hunger since the war began. For every child killed by bombs and bullets, dozens are dying from hunger and disease and it’s entirely preventable,’’ it said in a statement.

The last available figure from the United Nations for the death toll from the conflict, seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, was in 2016 and stood at more than 10,000.

The world body has not provided figures for the death toll from malnutrition but warned last month that half the population, or some 14 million people, could soon be on the brink of famine and completely reliant on humanitarian aid.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it had no fatality figures but both malnutrition and fighting were taking a heavy toll on civilians.

‘‘What we see in all the different (health) centres and places that we are working in, it’s a very catastrophic humanitarian situation, but not only malnutrition,’’ Carlos Batallas, outgoing head of the ICRC delegation in Aden, told Reuters in Geneva. — Reuters