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Over 100,000 people displaced as Yemen fighting intensifies
More than 100,000 people in Yemen, many of them children, have fled their homes during a recent surge in fighting between the government and Shi'ite Muslim rebels, a U.N. agency said on Friday.
U.N. aid bodies expressed serious concern about what they called a deteriorating situation in the north of the country. The refugee agency UNHCR appealed for a ceasefire to allow civilians to escape the fighting and enable aid workers to resume interrupted deliveries of humanitarian goods to the conflict zone.
The conflict with the rebels has flared intermittently since 2004. Authorities accuse the rebels of trying to expand their influence, but the insurgents say they are defending their villages against government oppression.
Earlier this month, Yemeni forces began an offensive, dubbed "Operation Scorched Earth", using air strikes, tanks and artillery in what officials say is an attempt to crush the revolt. Last weekend, Yemeni troops have killed more than 100 Shiite rebels, including two of their commanders.
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