Living and dying in war: A tragic tale of a Yemeni baby

The baby was born in war, even as planes blasted his village in Yemen. Five months later, Udai Faisal died from war: His skeletal body broke down under the ravages of malnutrition, his limbs like twigs, his cheeks sunken, his eyes dry.

He vomited yellow fluid from his nose and mouth. Then he stopped breathing. "He didn't cry and there were no tears, just stiff," said his mother, Intissar Hezzam. "I screamed and fainted."

The spread of hunger has been the most horrific consequence of Yemen's war since Shi'ite rebels seized the capital and Saudi Arabia and its allies, backed by the United States, responded with a campaign of airstrikes and a naval blockade a year ago. 

The impoverished nation of 26 million, which imports 90% of its food, already had one of the highest malnutrition rates in the world, but in the past year the statistics have leaped.

The number of people considered "severely food insecure" - unable to put food on the table without outside aid - went from 4.3 million to more than 7 million, according to the World Food Programme. Ten of the country's 22 provinces are classified as one step away from famine.

Where before the war around 690 000 children under five suffered moderate malnutrition, now the number is 1.3 million. Even more alarming are the rates of severe acute malnutrition among children - the worst cases where the body starts to waste away - doubling from around 160 000 a year ago to 320 000 now, according to Unicef estimates.

Exact numbers for those who died from malnutrition and its complications are unknown, since the majority were likely unable to reach proper care. But in a report released on Tuesday, Unicef said an estimated 10 000 additional children under five died of preventable diseases the past year because of the breakdown in health services, on top of the previous rate of nearly 40 000 children a year.

"The scale of suffering in the country is staggering," Unicef said in the report, and the violence "will have an impact for generations to come".

The Saudi-led coalition launched its campaign on March 26 2015, aiming to halt the advance of Shi'ite rebels known of Houthis who had taken over the capital, Sana'a, drove out the internationally recognised government and stormed south.

The Houthi advance was halted. But they continue to hold Sana'a and the north. In the centre of the country, they battle multiple Saudi-backed factions supporting the government that tenuously holds the southern city of Aden.