Hundreds of children have been permanently handicapped by the years of fighting, local doctors say. This boy (front, center) had his leg amputated after a government airstrike left him trapped under the rubble of a collapsed wall.
A girl cares for her sister in a threadbare camp for displaced Yemenis in Saada city. In early 2011, more than a year after a January 2010 ceasefire between Houthi rebels and Yemeni and Saudi forces, more than 250,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) remained scattered across Yemen in protracted displacement.
Children have borne the brunt of the conflict in Yemen's north. The use of child soldiers has been pervasive, by government forces as well as Houthi groups and tribal militias affiliated with the government. An estimated 220 of the 725 schools in Saada governorate have been destroyed, damaged or looted.
A malnourished baby attached to a life-support system recuperates in a cot in a Saudi-run hospital in Saada. The destruction of farms and factories during the fighting, price hikes, and limited access for aid agencies has led to soaring rates of malnourishment. UNICEF officials say that nearly half the children in Saada province are suffering from malnutrition.
A Zaidi imam, his prayer mat draped across his head, surveys the bullet-pocked interior of an ancient mosque in the old city of Saada. "Allah is Great, Death to America, Death to Israel, Damned be the Jews, Victory to Islam," reads the Houthi's brazen slogan, written on the wall of the mosque. The mantra can be found stenciled on billboards, houses and mosques across the city.
