By Zakaria al-Kamali

SANAA

The cholera epidemic has killed at least 1,560 people in war-torn Yemen since late April, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

A total of 252,816 suspected cases of cholera have been registered in 21 Yemeni provinces, the WHO said on Twitter.

According to the UN agency, the northwestern Hajjah province is the hardest-hit by the disease with 288 deaths reported.

The southern province of Socotra remains the only Yemeni province where the cholera epidemic has not spread.

UN agencies have repeatedly warned that the three-year long fighting in Yemen had destroyed the country's health sector, making it difficult to deal with the epidemic.

Impoverished Yemen has remained in a state of civil war since 2014, when Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

In 2015, Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a massive air campaign aimed at reversing Houthi military gains and shoring up Yemen’s embattled government.

According to UN officials, more than 10,000 people have been killed in the war, while more than 11 percent of the country’s population has been displaced as a direct result of the conflict.