Second Month of Taiz Siege Leaves 1.5 Million People Short on Food and Medicine
Houthi forces have cut off the city's main supply lines, causing prices to spike and hospital access to drop by up to 70 percent.
By Charlotte Dubois ·
The siege of Taiz has now lasted for two months.
Houthi forces completed the encirclement of the city after capturing al-Turbah in the southwest. This move severed the primary road connection to Aden. The blockade currently affects the city's 1.5 million residents and people in nearby rural areas.
Salah Ahmed Ghaleb al-Majidi, the acting director of the governorate's Siege Affairs Department, described the blockade as the worst imposed on a Yemeni city since the war began in 2014. Food, water, and fuel are failing to reach the population. Trash is accumulating inside city limits because it cannot be moved to external landfill sites. The United Nations has warned that conditions inside could become catastrophic.
Travelers are facing longer journeys and higher costs. Ahmed al-Mikhlafi, who shortened his name for security reasons, returned from Mecca with his wife and three children. The main route through Hayjat al-Abd and al-Turbah was closed. The family took a rough alternative road and passed nearly 20 new Houthi checkpoints. They were stopped 15 kilometers from the city entrance and ordered to wait. The fare for a shared passenger vehicle from Aden rose from 35 Saudi riyals to 100 Saudi riyals.
Health services are struggling to maintain operations. Taysir al-Samei, an information officer at the governorate's health office, reported that access to the city's hospital dropped by 60 to 70 percent by the end of the second week of the siege. Hospitals are running low on medical supplies and the fuel needed to keep essential services running. About 180,000 displaced people are also trapped by fighting along the road between Lahj and Taiz.
The blockade has made it difficult for patients to seek urgent care abroad. A young journalist identified only as T F has chronic immune-related inflammation. His liver enzyme levels rose to 32 times the normal range. His doctor in Cairo urged him to seek specialist treatment. T F said his reporting against the Houthis makes leaving through their controlled territory nearly impossible.
