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Days of fighting between government forces and Houthi rebels in southwest Yemen pushed the death toll past 300, as hundreds of families fled their homes to escape the violence.
The clashes over a Red Sea gateway mark the deadliest flare-up in the Arabian Peninsula's southernmost country since a 2022 ceasefire collapsed in July.
Families fleeing fighting in Maqbanah and Jabal Habashi in Taiz governorate in Yemen's southwest sought shelter at Al-Bareen camp for the internally displaced on Saturday.
"The shooting came at us from above and from below," said Rawdhah Hasan, a woman displaced from Maqbanah, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"They surrounded us from every direction; we fled with our children without even putting on our shoes," she added.
Nimah Saif, another woman displaced from the Jabal Habashi district, said that "some people were injured and others were killed. We saw them lying on the ground, but we could not help anyone."
"Now we are stranded here, hungry, with nothing to eat," she added.
The UN's humanitarian coordination agency, OCHA, said Friday that an estimated 1,790 households had been displaced following "intense shelling and clashes" in Maqbanah and Jabal Habashi districts.
A spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres said he remained "deeply concerned by the ongoing military clashes", warning of "devastating political, economic and security ramifications for Yemen and its people".
In July, a fragile truce between the Houthis and Yemen’s government collapsed after the rebels welcomed an Iranian plane to the capital, Sanaa, triggering a spate of attacks. The Houthis have also announced a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia and begun targeting its ships and territory.
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