Reuters

The newspaper La Jornada
Monday, August 19, 2024, p. 29

Aden. Acute malnutrition is rising rapidly in government-controlled areas of Yemen, with the most critical cases along the Red Sea coast, United Nations food security experts warned in a report released yesterday.

The war between the Saudi-backed government and the Iran-aligned Houthi militia has caused the already impoverished country’s economic collapse and one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

Malnutrition was worsened by the spread of diseases such as cholera and measles, food shortages, lack of clean water and general economic decline.

The number of children under five suffering from acute malnutrition or emaciation rose by 34 percent compared to the previous year.

For the first time, a level of acute malnutrition is recorded extremely critical in the southern lowlands of Hodeidah and in the Al Makha district of the Taiz lowlands.

The report did not detail conditions in Houthi-controlled areas of the country, which are Yemen’s largest urban centers, including the capital, Sanaa.

Hezbollah attacks Israeli positions

In another flashpoint in the region, Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah shelled Israeli positions in response to attacks on the towns of Al-Dhahira and Shebaa, causing civilian casualties, prompting Egypt to call on Hezbollah to show restraint in its attacks on Israel.

In Syria, a fighter-bomber from the coalition to prevent the resurgence of the Islamic State organization in the region, led by the United States, approached dangerously yesterday, over Homs, a Russian surveillance plane from the Center for Reconciliation of Warring Parties in Syria was hit, the Russian news agency Tass reported.