Children in Yemen suffer from severe malnutrition

The twin baby boys lying on a bed made out of palm leaves in a remote camp for refugees in Yemen's north are just two of the millions of Yemenis facing famine in the war-torn country.

Twins Mohamed and Ali Hassan al-Jumaai appear to be twisting in pain, not from a particular disease, but from starvation.

Their collar and rib bones are visible.

Mohamed and Ali, who are 18 months old, weigh only about 3 kilograms, or 6.6 pounds each, less than a third of the weight they should be, according to their doctor.

They were born to a Yemeni farmer from the district of Harad in Yemen's northern Hajjah province along the border with Saudi Arabia.

The family has fled the fighting and taken refuge in a camp for displaced people in the district of Abs.

Yahia Jahaf, the doctor treating the twins at the camp's medical center, said both of the young boys suffer from severe acute malnutrition.

Mohamed and Ali's family regularly take them to a clinic but their condition has recently worsened as they have had complications.

It became necessary to transfer them to a center specialised in treating malnutrition.

Malnutrition and acute malnutrition, particularly among children, are widespread across Yemen.

U.N. agencies last month warned that at least 98,000 children under five in southern Yemen could die from severe acute malnutrition.

Already, Yemen is home to the world's worst food crisis, mostly due to the civil war there.

The war and coronavirus pandemic have levelled consecutive blows to what was already the Arab world's poorest country.

(Image Credit: AP)