Yemen
Soldiers gather at the site of an attack by a suicide bomber who drove a car laden with explosives into a compound run by local militias in the southern port city of Aden, Yemen, Aug. 29, 2016. REUTERS/Fawaz Salman

At least 10,000 people have been killed in Yemen's 18-month-old civil war, the United Nations on Tuesday, almost double the estimates of more than 6,000 cited by officials and aid workers for much of 2016.

U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator Jamie McGoldrick told a news conference in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa the new figure was based on official information from medical facilities in Yemen. It might rise as some areas had no medical facilities, and people were often buried without any official record being made.

The conflict has displaced three million Yemenis and forced 200,000 people to seek refuge abroad, McGoldrick said.

The United Nations had information that 900,000 of those displaced intended to try to return to their homes, he said.

"This is a big challenge, especially in areas still experiencing conflict," McGoldrick said.

Some 14 million of Yemen's 26 million population need food aid and 7 million are suffering from food insecurity, he said.

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