UNITED NATIONS, March 31 (Xinhua) -- At least 62 children have been killed and 30 injured during fighting in Yemen over the past week, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said Tuesday.

"The fighting is severely damaging basic health services and education, while violence and displacement are leaving children terrified," Julien Harneis, UNICEF's representative for Yemen, said in a statement.

The current escalation in violence and the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation is exacerbating already precarious conditions for children in the country, with widespread food insecurity, severe acute malnutrition and increased rates of child recruitment, according to UNICEF.

"Children are in desperate need of protection, and all parties to the conflict should do all in their power to keep children safe, " Harneis said.

Fresh crossfire between Saudi-led coalition and Shiite Houthi rebels broke out on Tuesday amid an ongoing Saudi-backed airstrikes against targets of Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Yemeni President Abd-Rabbo Mansour Hadi fled the country last week.

Also, escalating violence has led many countries to evacuate their nationals from the Middle East nation.

Yemen has been mired in political gridlock since 2011 when mass protests forced former President Ali Abdullash Saleh to step down. The three-year reconciliation talks failed to resolve the crisis but create huge power vacuum that could benefit the powerful al- Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula and other extremist groups.