Number of displaced inside Yemen tops 1 million: UN relief wing

More than 1 million people were estimated to be internally displaced since mid-March in Yemen as a result of the conflict, a UN spokesman said here Wednesday, citing the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

"The figure of displaced people is likely to increase as we get access to new areas," Stephane Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here. Half of the people displaced are in the northwest in Hajjah Governorate and Al-Dhale'e Governorate in the South, he added.

The Security Council on Tuesday voiced deep concern about the " grave situation" in Yemen and urged the country's stakeholders to engage as soon as possible in United Nations-brokered inclusive political consultations.

In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, the 15-nation Security Council reaffirmed its call on Yemeni parties to attend the talks and engage "without preconditions and in good faith," including by resolving their differences through dialogue and consultations, rejecting acts of violence to achieve political goals, and refraining from provocation and all unilateral actions to undermine the political transition.

Expressing deep disappointment that the UN-backed consultations, previously scheduled to take place in Geneva on May 28, did not take place, the Security Council also emphasized that the inclusive dialogue must be a Yemeni-led process and urged all parties "to resume and accelerate" them with the intention of brokering a "consensus-based political solution."

The ongoing political and security tensions have further aggravated Yemen's humanitarian crisis and food shortages with currently 12.5 million food insecure people in the country -- some 2 million more than when the fighting began.

The World Food Programme (WFP) is aiming to provide emergency food assistance to 2.5 million people, and, from August, it plans to increase that number, reaching 12 million people by the end of the year. Endite