UN alarm over Yemen refugee camp

Displacement camps have received little aid due to the increase in fighting

UN aid agencies have asked the Yemeni government to stop sending people displaced by fighting to a camp close to the scene of recent shooting.

The security situation surrounding the camp in northern Yemen's Amran district was "of serious concern", a spokesman for the UN's refugee agency said.

An upsurge of fighting between government troops and rebel forces began more than two months ago.

Tens of thousands of people have since been displaced from their homes.

Voices of Yemenis displaced by war

"Over the past three days there has been some shooting in the vicinity of the camp, which also prevented staff from getting to the location," said Andrej Mahecic, spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

"We don't want to see any new internally displaced persons being brought in and potentially harmed."

'No safe route'

Despite repeated appeals from aid agencies, there has been no lull in the fighting in Yemen, and no humanitarian corridor for aid workers and supplies.

The UN children's organisation Unicef says most of those displaced by the conflict are women and children.

Very little aid has reached them, and now malnutrition is increasing to alarming levels, Unicef says.

The UN says it also believes thousands of civilians are trapped inside the city of Sa'ada, where street battles are continuing. Electricity is limited to just a few hours a day and water and food are running out.

Aid agencies are repeating their plea for access to those in need, but as long as the fighting remains intense, there is no safe route for supplies.

Correspondents say tens of thousands will continue to wait for aid, and many thousands more will attempt to flee the conflict zone.