The United States will provide $225 million in emergency aid to Yemen to support food programmes, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced, as aid groups there are forced to scale down operations amid a spreading coronavirus outbreak.

“This assistance will provide the UN World Food Programme’s (WFP) emergency food operation in southern Yemen, as well as a reduced operation in northern Yemen, which the WFP was forced to scale down earlier this month because of the ongoing interference of the Iran-backed Houthis,” Pompeo told a news conference.

According to Reuters, around 80 per cent of Yemen’s population, or 24 million people, rely on aid, and 10 million are facing famine.