Nearly 94,000 displaced in Yemen due to ongoing conflict, says UN migration agency

The UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced on Monday that 93,864 people have been newly displaced across Yemen due to the ongoing conflict between government forces and the Houthi group.

"The heaviest impact is concentrated in Ta'iz and Lahj governorates," the IOM said in a statement.

"In Ta'iz's Jabal Habashy district alone, 18,840 people have been displaced, with a further 9,966 displaced from Al Ma'afer."

In Lahj, 16,464 people have been displaced from the Al-Mudharibah district, while another 2,892 have fled Tuban, according to the UN agency.

Displacement has also spread to Aden, Al Hodeidah, Abyan and other districts in Ta'iz, underscoring the crisis' widening reach, it added.

"IOM and partners are responding on the ground and continue to monitor displacement trends. IOM is calling for urgent support to meet the shelter, water and sanitation needs of newly displaced families," it said.

MOUNTING DISPLACEMENT, CIVILIAN CASUALTIES

Separately, UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters that at least 18,000 households, representing roughly 125,000 individuals, have been forced to flee their residences since the start of September.

"The toll on civilians is increasing," Haq said, adding that monitors at the UN Human Rights Office verified 40 civilian casualties between Sept. 1 and Monday, including eight deaths and 32 injuries. Women and children account for half of those killed and more than half of those wounded during the reporting period, said Haq.

Confrontations between Yemen's internationally recognized government's forces and the Houthis have escalated since early July, following years of relative calm.

The country has been engulfed in war since the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and several provinces in 2014, before a Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in 2015 in support of the internationally recognized government.