Inside Mazrak refugee camp, Yemen

Mazrak camp in the tough mountainous scrublands of Yemen's north-west border with Saudi Arabia is now home to more than 10,000 people displaced by the escalating war between the government and rebels from the Huthi clan. Photograph: guardian.co.uk

Rather than continue with its costly operation to truck in 200,000 liters of water a day, UNICEF is now considering laying a 23 kilometer pipe to pump much needed additional water to Mazrak camp Photograph: guardian.co.uk

The UN-administered camp at Mazrak, north-west Yemen, seen on 12 November 2009 is now stretched beyond capacity after a Saudi military offensive against the Huthis starting early November uprooted a fresh wave of IDP families Photograph: guardian.co.uk

Yemeni women and children tend to a fire in the UN-serviced IDP camp at Mazrak, north Yemen Photograph: guardian.co.uk

The majority of displaced families have scattered across the vast landscape of north Yemen, seeking shelter and food among the local rural populations. On November 14,2009, the World Food Programme (WFP) made a distribution of wheat, beans, sugar and cooking oil to displaced families in north-west Yemen who have not been accommodated in Mazrak or other camps. Photograph: guardian.co.uk

Saudi troops cheer as they ride at the back of an army truck in the southwestern province of Jizan near the border with Yemen Photograph: AFP/guardian.co.uk