Geneva, Sep 22 — Nearly 130,000 people have been displaced across seven governorates in Yemen due to escalating insecurity, with many of them having been displaced multiple times, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said on Monday.
"The numbers keep climbing. On September 18 we recorded 118,086 displaced people. Three days later, the figure has risen by 11,352," said Othman Belbeisi, IOM Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
According to the latest IOM data, Taiz Governorate hosts the largest number of displaced people, with 73,494.
Yemen has been mired in conflict since 2014, when the Houthi group seized control of parts of the country, including the capital Sanaa, prompting a Saudi-led military intervention the following year in support of the internationally recognised government. Years of fighting, economic hardship and recurring natural disasters have left millions of Yemenis in need of humanitarian assistance.
Meanwhile, as of Sunday evening, 3,106 people had crossed the Red Sea from Yemen to Djibouti, the UN agency said.
Additionally, Yemen's Houthi group said Sunday that 28 airstrikes had hit three provinces over the previous 24 hours, amid continued ground battles between the group and the Yemeni government forces across several fronts.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a statement that F-15 and Typhoon fighter jets operating from the Saudi air bases of Khamis Mushait and Taif carried out the strikes in Yemen's southwestern Taiz, northeastern oil-rich Marib, and northern Al-Jawf provinces.
Sarea put the cumulative number of airstrikes since the latest escalation began at 760.
Saudi Arabia has not immediately commented on the latest figures.
Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported earlier in the day that an airstrike struck a telecommunications tower in Al-Jawf, while areas of northern Saada province along the Saudi border came under artillery fire.
The aerial operations came as government forces and Houthi fighters remained locked in fighting in southwestern Yemen, where control of frontline positions has shifted repeatedly in recent days.
A government military source told Xinhua Sunday that government forces had retaken several positions in western Taiz, though the broader front lines remained largely unchanged amid fierce fighting.