Yemen violence kills 1,244, injures 5,044: WHO

UN receives 44 alerts of suspected disease outbreaks, including measles dengue fever and meningitis

GENEVA: Just over a month of fighting in Yemen has left nearly 1,250 people dead, in a conflict affecting 7.5 million people, the World Health Organization said Friday.

The UN health agency described a "deteriorating" humanitarian situation in the country, especially in Taez in the centre of the country where there have been  heavy clashes.

Fighting and airstrikes by a Saudi-led coalition killed 1,244 people and injured 5,044 between March 19 and April 27, according to the latest WHO toll.

WHO receives its statistics from health facilities in Yemen, but since many people are not making it to hospitals for treatment the real numbers are probably higher.

The latest toll was published after Saudi Arabia said its forces on Thursday had killed dozens of Iran backed rebels who launched their first major attack on the kingdom since the Saudi-led airstrikes began.

The air strikes began in late March when the Huthi rebels and their allies advanced on the main southern city of Aden, where President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi fled after the rebels seized large parts of the country including Sanaa.

Hadi escaped to Riyadh, which feared an Iran-friendly regime taking control of its southern neighbour.

In Taez, 19 people were killed and 91 injured on April 26 alone, when the local Al-Thawra hospital was hit, WHO said.

The UN agency also warned Friday that most roads connecting Sanaa to the governorates of Aden, Taez, Al-Dhaale, and Lahj were "becoming gradually inaccessible, making the delivery of life-saving medicines a serious challenge."

Severe shortages of medicine and health staff were also being reported in areas where the violence was raging, and shortages of safe water were becoming acute across much of the country, it said.

Disrupted electricity supplies and fuel shortages were also being felt across Yemen and were hampering efforts to deliver medical supplies and keep health facilities and ambulances running.

People seem to be having difficulty accessing health facilities across Yemen, WHO said, and warned of rising numbers of cases of acute respiratory infections, acute diarrhoeal diseases, and malaria.

It also said it had received 44 alerts of suspected disease outbreaks, including measles dengue fever and meningitis.