UNICEF, on Friday, the third of Mehr, announced that alongside the intensification of fighting in Yemen, acute malnutrition among children living in the country has increased.

UNICEF also warned that attacks by Houthi rebels have reduced children’s access to health services and facilities providing nutrition and treatment.

Speaking to reporters in this regard, “Akhil Ayir,” UNICEF’s representative in Yemen, said that out of the 2,900 Yemeni children who have been screened in recent weeks, more than a quarter suffered from acute malnutrition, and 200 children were also in the severe cases category, meaning the most severe level of malnutrition.

UNICEF noted that these figures provide only a limited snapshot of the current situation across Yemen, where it is expected that about 2.2 million children under the age of five will suffer from acute malnutrition and that more than half a million children are expected to endure very severe malnutrition.