SANAA, Yemen

Half a million children in government-held areas in war-torn Yemen face the risk of acute malnutrition this year, the United Nations warned.

"As acute malnutrition continues to worsen in southern governorates, it is estimated that in 2023, half a million children will be acutely malnourished, including nearly 100,000 children who are likely to be severely malnourished," said a joint statement by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Program (WFP).

The UN agencies estimated that "up to a quarter million pregnant and lactating women will be acutely malnourished."

Yemen "remains one of the most food insecure countries globally, mainly driven by the impact of conflict and economic decline,” the statement said.

UN agencies in Yemen were forced to cut their assistance to millions of people in war-torn Yemen in recent months amid a severe shortage in funding for their humanitarian operations.

Yemen has been engulfed by violence and instability since 2014, when Iranian-aligned Houthi rebels captured much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

The nine-year civil war caused the death to nearly 400,000 people in Yemen according to UN figures, along with millions who have been displaced from their homes and areas making Yemen one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar