UN Says 290,000 Displaced in Yemen Since August as Saudi Coalition Reports Second Drone Intercept Over Riyadh in Two Days

Since Yemen's war re-erupted in August, the fighting has gone from a regional ground conflict to a crisis that now reaches Saudi cities. New UN figures show the human cost.

At least 290,000 people have been displaced since the start of August, the UN humanitarian office OCHA said in a report published Friday, Oct. 30. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the fighting shows no sign of easing. That number is on top of more than 5.2 million Yemenis who were already internally displaced before the war flared again.

Pregnant women among the displaced

The UN Population Fund estimates that nearly 6,100 of the newly displaced are pregnant women. About 600 of them are expected to give birth within the next two weeks. The agency has sent mobile teams and midwives to displacement sites and is delivering maternal health supplies.

Aid groups have reached nearly 249,000 displaced people with food, hygiene supplies and emergency cash, according to Dujarric. Fighting has been heaviest in Taiz governorate and along the coast, and OCHA's report says thousands have been killed.

The UN refugee agency said more than 65,000 refugees and asylum seekers inside Yemen face a "rapidly worsening humanitarian situation." Services are disrupted and food and fuel prices keep climbing. Since August, the agency has helped more than 600 Somali refugees return home voluntarily.

Thousands of Yemenis have also fled across the Red Sea to Djibouti. The crossing is lethal. The International Organization for Migration said at least 139 migrants died and 84 were missing after an overloaded boat carrying 305 people capsized north of Obock, Djibouti, after leaving on the night of Oct. 8. That boat was headed toward Yemen. The IOM said the cause of the capsizing remains unclear.

Fighting reaches Riyadh again

The war is no longer contained inside Yemen. Today, Oct. 31, the Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted and destroyed a "hostile" drone over the Riyadh region. Spokesman Turki al-Malki wrote on X that authorities were still inspecting the site and that no casualties were reported.

It was the second interception over the Riyadh region in two days. On Friday, Saudi Arabia said it downed drones near Mecca, Medina and Riyadh and also shot down a Houthi missile fired toward the south of the kingdom.

The Houthis reject the Saudi account. Military spokesman Yahya Saree denied the group launched drones toward Saudi territory and called the claims "egregious lies." The group has repeatedly denied targeting Mecca and Medina. It does claim responsibility for attacks on the Saudi capital, airports and oil infrastructure, and says it has carried out six attacks on Saudi airports and oil facilities.

The deadliest strike so far hit Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport on Oct. 10. It killed at least 13 people and wounded more than 300, the worst attack on Saudi soil in over a decade.

Aid workers held

The humanitarian response also faces a problem with access. Luke Lindberg, the new executive director of the World Food Programme, told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that 37 WFP staff are being held by the Houthis. Many have been detained for nearly two years.

"These folks are out there to provide basic humanitarian services," Lindberg said. "They're not there to influence the political outcomes of a conflict."

All 37 are Yemenis employed locally by the agency, and none are American, he said. Lindberg said he raised the case with U.S. Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz in his first days on the job and that the State Department is treating it as a priority.

The situation was already dire. More than 18 million Yemenis face acute food insecurity, Lindberg said, including more than 2 million children under five with acute malnutrition.

What comes next

The UN has asked all parties to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, respect international humanitarian law, and allow "safe, sustained and unimpeded humanitarian access." No party has announced a ceasefire.

The diplomatic fallout is spreading. The New York Times reported Saturday that Syria is weighing whether to join Saudi Arabia's mutual defense agreement with Turkey and Pakistan, a step that could draw more countries into the kingdom's conflict with the Iran-backed Houthis. Whether Damascus signs on has not been announced.