Childhood malnutrition levels in Syria's Eastern Ghouta region, under government siege since 2013, are at the highest levels recorded in the country since its six-year war began, the UN said Wednesday.

The UN children's agency UNICEF said a November survey in the rebel-held area outside Damascus showed 11.9 percent of children under five were suffering acute malnutrition, "the highest rate ever recorded in Syria" since the conflict started.

source: AFP