120,000 displaced inside Yemen since Saudi-led airstrikes began

World Today

FILE - In this Saturday, April 4, 2015 file photo, Yemenis search for survivors in the rubble of houses destroyed by Saudi-led airstrikes in a village near Sanaa, Yemen. Saudi Arabia’s government insists it is not at war with Iran despite its three-week air campaign against Tehran-backed rebels in Yemen. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed, File)FILE – In this Saturday, April 4, 2015 file photo, Yemenis search for survivors in the rubble of houses destroyed by Saudi-led airstrikes in a village near Sanaa, Yemen. Saudi Arabia’s government insists it is not at war with Iran despite its three-week air campaign against Tehran-backed rebels in Yemen. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed, File)

Hundreds of thousands of people have fled war-torn Yemen as intense ground fighting and Saudi Arabia-led airstrikes continue in the country, according to the United Nations.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimated that more than 120,000 people have been displaced inside Yemen since the Saudi-led coalition airstrike campaign against Shiite Houthi militants and their allies began in late March.

Many parts of the capital Sanaa have been reduced to piles of rubble and debris following the airstrikes. Streets remain empty and stores have been shut down.

Civilian causalities are also mounting as coalition warplanes have stepped up air raids over the past weeks.

The U.N. Human Rights Office said hundreds have been killed and more wounded by the airstrikes. Thousands of families in the capital have been displaced.

“I’m heading to Taiz Province. The situation in Sanaa and Saada is worsening because of the constant airstrikes,” an unnamed Sanaa resident said.

Many countries have evacuated their nationals from Yemen since the conflict intensified.

The Saudi-led airstrikes are meant to halt the advance by the Houthi militants who have overrun the country with help from loyalists of deposed president Ali Abdullah Saleh, forcing Yemen’s current president, Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi, to flee to Saudi Arabia.

Report compiled from CCTV News and Associated Press reports.