World · Middle East · 1 hr ago
Houthi siege cuts off Taiz as water and aid supplies dwindle
The Houthi siege has cut off Yemen’s Taiz city from supplies, with the United Nations saying more than 800,000 people have been without aid access since early October.
Taiz, Yemen’s third-largest city, is held by forces of the internationally recognised government and has been a focus of fighting since the civil war began in 2014.
Residents rely heavily on water trucks, but deliveries have fallen and water costs have tripled, while fuel shortages have also disrupted pumps and hospitals.
Food is scarce, and UN screenings found more than 52,000 children in Taiz with acute malnutrition, including about 11,500 with severe acute malnutrition.
The siege is worsening hardship for a city already strained by damaged water infrastructure, drought and people displaced by fighting.
The European Commission has announced 22.5 million euros in additional aid for Yemen, but humanitarian groups say remaining supplies in Taiz are running low.
The UN says it is trying to regain access, while fighting continues around the city.
Taiz, Yemen’s third-largest city, is facing a drinking-water crisis as Houthi forces besiege it and restrict access to wells and deliveries.
More than 1 million residents are barely getting their water needs met, humanitarian groups say.
Families are rationing water, while bottled-water prices have risen by as much as 75% in recent weeks.
Fuel shortages are limiting water treatment and threatening hospitals, including dialysis services.
The siege is also disrupting access to food and other essential supplies.
- Who
- Residents of Taiz, including more than 1 million people, are affected. Houthi forces are besieging the city.
- What
- Water and aid supplies are dwindling, while hospitals face shortages of fuel and medical supplies.
- When
- The crisis has reached acute levels in recent weeks. The renewed siege began in the first week of October.
- Where
- Taiz, a government-held city in southwest Yemen.
- Why
- Houthi advances and control of roads around the city have restricted access to wells and deliveries from outside Taiz.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Yemen descended into civil war after the Houthis seized much of the country’s north, including Sanaa.
Taiz was under complete Houthi siege.
Yemen became a widening front in the Iran war, according to the articles.
The renewed Houthi siege of Taiz began after advances in the countryside.
Taiz governorate’s health office warned that 1,110 patients with kidney failure were at risk.
- Residents
- More than 1 million people live in Taiz
- Daily water use
- Hadil al-Shahid’s family now makes 10 litres last about four days
- Bottled-water prices
- Up as much as 75% in recent weeks
- Displaced people
- An estimated 124,000 arrived in Taiz province since August
- Dialysis patients at risk
- 1,110 across Taiz governorate
- Hospital diesel prices
- Up to five times their pre-siege level
6 sources
Drinking water supplies dwindle in Yemeni city besieged by Houthi rebels
In besieged Yemeni city, drinking water supplies hit crisis levels
Hospital in Yemen's Taiz warns of collapse in days because of Houthi siege
A drinking water crisis grips Yemeni city besieged by Houthis
El cerco sobre Taiz agrava la crisis humanitaria en Yemen y deja a cientos de miles sin ayuda
What people are saying
We stopped drinking coffee and tea, which we used to drink daily.
Because of the siege and the shortage of diesel and medical solutions, we have recently been forced to reduce dialysis sessions from four hours to just two and a half.
A very large part of this suffering is because of the shortage of diesel.