The UN envoy to Yemen warned Wednesday of a growing humanitarian crisis in the country, where 6.8 million people have been left without enough food during months of political turmoil that has allowed Al-Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula to gain ground. UN envoy Jamal Benomar said some 3 million people are in need of immediate assistance and he urged international donors to help the Arab world's poorest country at this time of need. The UN humanitarian appeal for $446 million for Yemen is only 15 percent funded, he said. “There is a growing humanitarian crisis in the country,” Benomar told reporters after briefing the UN Security Council. He said Yemen has the second highest rate of chronic child malnutrition in the world and warned that 500,000 children are likely to die from malnutrition or suffer life-long consequences this year if adequate support isn't provided. Benomar said the humanitarian crisis and Al-Qaeda's increasing support are among the major challenges that the new government led by President Abdo Rabbu Mansour Hadi face. He was sworn in on Feb. 25 to replace longtime leader Ali Abdullah Saleh, following an election aimed at ending more than a year of political turmoil in Yemen. As Hadi tries to bring stability to the country, he must also restructure powerful security forces packed with Saleh loyalists, launch a national dialogue that would include southern secessionists, and appease a restless religious minority in the north as well as disparate opposition groups in the heartland. Benomar's comments came as Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for a weekend assault on a military base in southern Yemen, which officials say left almost 200 soldiers dead in the deadliest defeat the army has suffered in a nearly yearlong campaign against the militant movement in the south. The Security Council late Wednesday condemned the terrorist attacks “in the strongest terms” and called all terrorist acts “unjustifiable.”
