Taiz, Yemen: siege and shelling bring shortages, rising prices and civilian casualties

Left · 1Taiz, Yemen's third-largest city, home to about 1 million of the country's roughly 43 million people, has been cut off since early October, when it lost both of its land routes. 1 Left · 1According to Al Jazeera, the Houthis took the town of al-Turbah by October 4, severing the Taiz-Al-Turbah-Aden Road, the main route for goods. A day earlier, forces loyal to the internationally recognised government had closed the eastern al-Houban crossing into Houthi-held territory, citing attempted Houthi incursions. 1 Right · 1The Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms, a monitor cited by Arab News, recorded 1,891 violations by the Houthi group against civilians and civilian objects in Taiz governorate from Sept. 1 to Oct. 22. It said they caused 212 civilian deaths, including 38 children and 27 women, and 319 injuries. 2

Right · 1The network also reported 23 field executions, five massacres and 314 abductions or enforced disappearances, 516 homes raided, and 356 homes damaged, 98 of them destroyed. It said the Houthis fired around 9,876 projectiles, set up 26 illegal checkpoints and barriers, and turned five schools into operating rooms and detention centers. It said the escalation displaced around 280,000 people. These figures are the monitor's and are not independently verified in the coverage. 2 Right · 1The network accused the Houthis of blocking food, medicine, fuel, oxygen cylinders, drinking water and relief convoys, and warned that a lack of fuel for generators threatens patients in hospitals, cancer centres and dialysis units. It called for Taiz to be declared a disaster city, for the siege to be lifted and for guaranteed access for aid. 2 Right · 1Arab News also reports that Yemeni government forces are stepping up counterattacks and air strikes on Houthi positions in the countryside and outskirts of Taiz. Armed forces spokesperson Majed Al-Nuzaili said they hit a command-and-control center and two tanks in the abandoned Sofitel Hotel, which he said the Houthis used as a launchpad to target civilians. Government forces are reported to have advanced in southern Taiz amid clashes in Al-Shaqb and Al-Kahlan. 2

Left · 1On October 20 the United Nations warned that road closures and lack of security were blocking vital supplies. Food and fuel prices had more than doubled and water production had halved. Fuel stations have been closed since October 5. 1 Left · 1Prices gathered by Al Jazeera show a 20-litre container of petrol at 120,000 riyals ($77), against 30,000 last year. Diesel for 20 litres has risen from 46,000 to 90,000 riyals, a cooking gas cylinder from 11,400 to 40,000 riyals, and bus fares from 200 to 500 riyals. UN officials say tanker water costs have roughly tripled. 1 Left · 1On October 22 the World Health Organization warned that 42 health facilities in Taiz reported severe shortages of fuel, oxygen, medicine and medical supplies. Local authorities say access restrictions also stop tankers from the Al-Dhabab basin, an important source of drinking water, from entering the city. 1

Left · 1Residents described the effects to Al Jazeera. Yousef Farhan, a father of four displaced by shelling years ago, lost his cucumber-selling income when the school where his family shelters closed, and now cooks over firewood on a diet of rice or beans. Fatima Khaled, 55, who has kidney failure, sleeps on the floor of the dialysis hall at Al-Jumhuri General Hospital because she cannot afford repeated trips from her village. 1