DUBAI: The World Food Programme said Tuesday it was suspending its food distribution in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen because of funding cuts and disagreements with the rebel group.

The poorest country in the Arabian peninsula has faced one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises since the outbreak of war between the government and the Houthis, who seized the capital Sanaa and large swathes of territory in 2014.

Sanaa’s takeover by the Iran-backed Houthis sparked a Saudi-led military coalition to intervene in 2015 in support of the Yemeni government.

Facing a drop in international funding, the WFP said in a statement it had taken this “difficult decision... after nearly a year of negotiations, during which no agreement was reached, to reduce the number of people served (by food distribution) from 9.5 million to 6.5 million”.

Food stocks in Houthi-controlled areas “are now almost completely depleted and resuming food assistance, even with an immediate agreement, could take up to as long as four months due to the disruption of the supply chain”, the UN agency said.

It said the WFP would nonetheless maintain “its resilience and livelihoods, nutrition, and school feeding programmes... for as long as the agency has sufficient funding and the cooperation of the authorities” in Sanaa.