ADEN, Yemen, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Locust swarms plagued several parts of war-ravaged Yemen particularly in the southwestern province of Taiz, a Yemeni official said Monday.
"The plague of locusts is still expanding across the country's agricultural areas and badly affects the pasturelands and crops," the local government official said on condition of anonymity.
He said that Yemen's government took no necessary measures to confront the outbreak of locusts that's threatening the local economies.
"The government's recent capability is too weak and it is unable to confront such plague," he added.
He urged the United Nations to help reduce the effects caused by the plague of locusts.
Yemen has been locked into a civil war since the Iran-backed Shiite Houthi rebels overran much of the country militarily and seized all northern provinces, including the capital Sanaa, in 2014.
The grinding war of more than five years has pushed over 20 million people to the verge of starvation.
Saudi Arabia leads an Arab military coalition that intervened in Yemen in 2015 to support the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after Houthi rebels forced him into exile.
