UN: 11,000 Children Killed or Injured in Yemen Conflict

FILE - A girl stands outside her family's hut at a camp for internally displaced people on the outskirts of Sanaa, Yemen, March 1, 2021.

The United Nations says more than 11,000 children have been killed or injured in Yemen since 2015.

A UNICEF statement said the likely toll is far higher, with only U.N.-verified incidents included in the count that dates to when a Saudi-led coalition joined the conflict.

"Thousands of children have lost their lives, hundreds of thousands more remain at risk of death from preventable disease or starvation," said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.

Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized control of Yemen’s capital in late 2014, and the Saudi-led coalition launched airstrikes in early 2015 in support of the internationally recognized government.

The conflict has been disastrous for the people of Yemen, leaving the country with one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

The U.N. says nearly three-quarters of the population is in need of humanitarian aid and protection.

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press and Reuters.