SANAA, Yemen — A collection of shocking photos of starving people barely surviving have shown the world that Yemen, the poorest country in the Middle East according to the World Food Programme (WFP), has plunged into famine.

The photos, taken in the district of al-Tuhayat in Yemen's western province of Hodeidah, have shocked Yemenis and panicked relief organizations. They tragically prove the extent of the catastrophe resulting from 18 months of civil war, which Saudi Arabia joined leading a regional military coalition on March 26, 2015.

Despite the United Nations' warnings of the coming famine, the photos of hungry Yemenis left no doubt that it's arrived.

Nearly 5,800 people reside in the starving district, spread among small towns. It lies on the coast between the port cities of Hodeidah and Mokha. The severe food shortage is worst there, where the situation is the most severe, but half of the Yemeni population lives in hunger. The United Nations Children's Fund stated Oct. 28, “Yemen's 18-month war has left 370,000 children at risk of severe malnutrition — a condition which needs urgent treatment to prevent a child from dying.”