AN ESTIMATED 85,000 children under the age of five have died from malnutrition in Yemen as bombing intensifies after more than three years of war.

A new report from Save the Children revealed the figures, which are equivalent to the entire under-five population of Britain’s second-largest city Birmingham.

The charity based its figures on United Nations figures on mortality rates for untreated cases of severe acute malnutrition. Its research showed that 84,700 children may have died between April 2015 and October 2018.

Save the Children warned that, left untreated, 20-30 per cent of children suffering from acute malnutrition will die. 

It said that 150,000 children’s lives were being placed at increased risk due to the “dramatic increase” in air strikes on the key port city of Hodeidah in recent weeks.

More than 22 million people are reliant on humanitarian aid, with a Saudi-led blockade responsible for the world’s largest food security emergency and a cholera outbreak affecting 1.2 million people.

At least 6,800 civilians have been killed and 10,700 injured, according to the UN, as imperialist countries including Britain and the US continue to provide military and tactical support to the Saudi-led coalition.

Save the Children director Tamer Kirolos said: “For every child killed by bombs and bullets, dozens are starving to death and it’s entirely preventable.

“Children who die in this way suffer immensely as their vital organ functions slow down and eventually stop. Their immune systems are so weak they are more prone to infections with some too frail to even cry.

“Parents are having to witness their children wasting away, unable to do anything about it.”

Despite the humanitarian crisis, US President Donald Trump has reinstated support for the reactionary Gulf kingdom and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

In a statement on Tuesday Mr Trump repeated the Saudi Arabian smear that murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi was “an enemy of the state” and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Despite the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) concluding that the Crown Prince was highly likely to have ordered the killing of Mr Khashoggi in the Istanbul consulate last month, Mr Trump claimed there was “nothing definitive” to prove the link.

He told reporters that Saudi Arabia was an important US ally and a key partner for US arms sales, claiming that damaging the relationship could lead to a spike in oil prices.

“If you want to go see oil prices go to $150 a barrel, all you have to do is break up our relationship with Saudi Arabia,” he said.