UN rights office: Nearly 5,000 killed in Yemen conflict

GENEVA – The U.N. human rights office says it estimates that more than two years of intensified conflict in Yemen has killed nearly 5,000 civilians.

Spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said the office's count of civilian deaths since fighting increased in Yemen in March 2015 was "conservative" It has recorded 4,971 civilians killed and 8,533 injured based on on-site verifications.

Rights office staffers in Yemen counted nearly 50 civilian deaths over the last month. Thirty were attributed to air strikes by a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia fighting in its impoverished neighbor, while 19 other deaths were blamed on shelling attacks from factions allied with Shiite rebels known as Houthis.

The U.N. health agency tallies its figures from hospitals and said 8,167 people had died and 46,335 had been injured through May 31.