An estimated 85,000 children under five may have died from extreme hunger in Yemen since a Saudi-led coalition intervened in the civil war in 2015, an aid agency said on Wednesday, as the U.N. special envoy arrived in Yemen to pursue peace talks.

Western countries are pressing for a cease-fire and renewed peace efforts to end the disastrous conflict, which has unleashed the world's most urgent humanitarian crisis with 8.4 million people believed to be on the verge of starvation.

Save the Children said that a conservative estimate based on U.N. data showed 84,700 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition may have died between April 2015 and October 2018, when a Western-backed Arab alliance has been battling the Iran-aligned Houthi movement that holds the capital Sanaa.