UN says civilian casualties in Yemen average 123 per week

GENEVA (AP) — The United Nations' refugee agency says there have been nearly 1,500 civilian casualties in Yemen from August through October.

The three-month tally, which includes both killed and wounded, is the latest toll from a four-year civil war that has killed at least 16,000 civilians.

UNHCR urged the warring parties in a statement released on Friday to do more to protect civilians, saying data from Yemen shows an average of 123 civilian deaths and injuries every week during the period.

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels and the internationally recognized government, supported by a Saudi-led coalition, are meeting in Sweden for U.N.-sponsored talks aimed at halting the bloodshed.

UNHCR says of the 1,478 civilian casualties, 33 percent were women and children. That's a total of 217 women and children killed and 268 wounded.