The U.N. humanitarian office said on Tuesday that more than 6,000 people were affected by the ongoing violence in the south of Yemen. Elisabeth Byrs of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that those affected were dependent on aid agencies for protection, water, and sanitation. She said the number of affected was based on a needs assessment conducted in Taiz in December. Byrs added that the rate of malnutrition in the country remained worrying, and that the number of malnourished children doubled as a result of the political turmoil in 2011. The figure now stands at 750,000, with half a million at risk of dying this year if adequate support was not provided. In addition, the education of thousands of children across the country continued to be disrupted by the occupation of schools by armed forces and armed groups, Byrs said.
