ONE million Yemeni children are at risk of contracting deadly diphtheria as the fuel to supply running water runs out, Oxfam warns.

Crippled by war and starvation, the impoverished country is already at the mercy of the worst cholera outbreak ever recorded. Almost 950,000 suspected cases have been identified since April.

The epidemic had begun to ease in recent weeks, but with just a few days of fuel for water provision left, the international aid charity expects a fresh surge of cases.

Meanwhile, it warns that diphtheria is now on the rise, with at least 120 cases since the beginning of the month.

Another one million children are at risk and the charity is urging the Saudi-led coalition in control of key ports to lift the blockade driving the disease.

A lack of basic medicines, sanitation and foodstuffs is blamed for the chronic suffering of civilians in the 27m-strong country, where UK and US-backed Saudi forces head an international team fighting Houthi militia in a struggle for control.

The Gulf kingdom and its allies back Yemeni president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who had to flee the country as the Houthis gained territory. The war has been raging for more than two years and 16m people — four in five — already lack access to clean piped water.

Diesel stocks in northern areas will run out in just eight days, according to estimates, with little petrol left.

The country’s Ministry of Water reports that seven cities have already run out of fuel and two others will run out soon.

Water supply in places such as the port of Hodeidah, Yemen’s fourth largest city, is reliant on fuel provided by the United Nations.

Aid agencies agreed to support the water supply networks but say they will not be able to continue as fuel is becoming scarce and more expensive, with prices jumping 200 per cent in the ancient capital Sanaa, where water costs have also doubled.

Shane Stevenson, Oxfam’s Country Director in Yemen said: “The people of Yemen are already being starved to submission.

“Unless the blockade is lifted quickly, they will have their clean water taken away too.

“Taking clean water from millions of people in a country that is already suffering the world’s largest cholera outbreak and on the verge of famine would be an act of utmost barbarity.

“The punishment of ordinary civilians is never justified.

“These are real people whose lives are being callously jeopardised in other countries’ war games.

He added: “Yemen can’t take much more. Unless the blockade is lifted, millions already in crisis will face a fresh catastrophe.”

Dysentry is said to be another developing health risk, with fuel shortages meaning Oxfam is now unable to deliver its water work in some areas.

The local cleaning department in the city of Taiz and surrounding areas ran out of fuel this week and the clearing of rubbish from the streets has been halted, which created an “ideal environment for new diseases” to take hold quickly.

Stevenson said: “The longer the blockade continues, the more people need our help but the less help we are able to offer.

“The international community cannot be allowed to turn its backs on the suffering in Yemen. All those with influence over the Saudi-led coalition are complicit in Yemen’s suffering unless they do all they can to push them to lift the blockade.”