Starving children face 'imminent risk of death' due to Saudi assault on Yemeni city, UNICEF warns

Starving children face 'imminent risk of death' due to Saudi badault on Yemeni city, UNICEF warns The Saudi-led coalition's attack on the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah could have catastrophic consequences for civilians, especially malnourished children in urgent need of care, UNICEF has Warned.

The United Nations International Children 's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), in the United Nations International Children' s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) in a press release.

Hodeidah and its neighbors governorates account for 40 percent of the 400,000 children in the country who suffer from serious malnutrition, and some of the sickest are taken to Al Thawra for urgent care. Children being treated at the hospital's intensive care unit now face "imminent risk of death," according to the aid group.

UNICEF also warned that "the toll may be catastrophic" if Hodeidah's port – through which up to 80 percent of Yemen's humanitarian supplies, fuel and commercial goods are delivered – or destroyed by Saudi Arabia or its allies.

The group called on all groups to cease hostilities and respect their obligations under international law. The statement comes from the Saudi-led coalition has intensified airstrikes on the region, according to local media.

The West has played a central role in the humanitarian disaster in Yemen, Richard Stanforth, Oxfam UK's regional policy officer for the Middle East, told RT in a recent interview.

"We have 14 million starving people," Stanforth said. "British, French, American governments are all behind this, they are all supporting this war."

He also accused the Saudi military of attacking water infrastructure, hospitals, and warehouses that store food and humanitarian aid. According to Stanforth, Riyadh knows the locations of Oxfam's operations in Yemen, but still persists in targeting the group and organizations like it.

Although the humanitarian disaster in Yemen has been largely overlooked in Western media, harrowing photos of a new-published seven-year-old published by the New York Times can not be ignored.

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!