A total of 1,992 people have been killed by a cholera epidemic in war-torn Yemen since late April, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Saturday.

In a statement, the WHO said 419,804 suspected cases of cholera have been recorded in the country since April 27.

The UN agency said the highest number of fatalities was recorded in the northwestern Hajjah province and in Hudaida in western Yemen.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) had expected the number of suspected cholera cases in Yemen to double by year’s end to over 600,000.

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

The conflict escalated when Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a massive air campaign in 2015 aimed at reversing Houthi military gains and shoring up Yemen’s embattled government.

According to the ICRC, over 3 million people have fled their homes since the onset of the Yemen conflict, and more than 20 million throughout the country are in need of humanitarian assistance.AA