Time ‘running out’ to reach Yemen’s Taiz amid deepening crisis, UN says

More than ۸۰۰,۰۰۰ people have been cut off from aid since the Houthis encircled Taiz city in early October.

A mounting humanitarian disaster is gripping Yemen’s Taiz after nearly three weeks of a Houthi siege that has prevented supplies from entering the city, the United Nations has warned.

The Iran-backed Houthis have encircled Taiz since early October, cutting off the road that links it to Aden, which serves as the interim capital of Yemen’s internationally recognised government.

Little fuel, food or other supplies have reached the city since.

“It’s ۲۰ days and counting since Taiz has been cut off,” Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN’s humanitarian arm, OCHA, told a news conference in Geneva on Friday. “We are seeing increasingly that the fighting makes it impossible for us to get in and impossible for people to get out.”

Most people depend on water brought in by trucks, the cost of which has tripled, Laerke said. Cooking gas is also “largely unavailable”, threatening community kitchens that provide meals to families.

Altogether, more than ۸۰۰,۰۰۰ people in Taiz are cut off from aid, about three-quarters of whom depend on humanitarian assistance, according to the UN World Food Programme (WFP). At least ۲۰۰,۰۰۰ are women and children.

While local humanitarian groups have been able to distribute their remaining supplies to keep water pumps and hospitals running, Laerke said, “It comes with a time code: The clock is running out.”

‘Desperate’ for access

Fighting in Taiz province has intensified in recent days, with clashes reported in the Jabal Han highlands and the Dhubab and al-Masrakh districts.

Colonel Majid al-Nuzaili, a spokesperson for the forces of the internationally recognised government, said on Friday that troops had conducted raids and counterattacks in Taiz over the last ۲۴ hours, “neutralising” ۶۲۰ Houthi fighters and destroying ۱۹۰ vehicles.

Al Jazeera could not independently verify the figures.

Hospitals in the province are meanwhile reporting critical shortages of fuel, oxygen, medicine and supplies. Forty-two Taiz facilities face “acute” deficits, the World Health Organization spokesman Christian Lindmeier said.

The fighting has also deepened an ongoing hunger crisis. In Taiz alone, UN screenings have found more than ۵۲,۰۰۰ children to have acute malnutrition; approximately ۱۱,۵۰۰ are suffering from severe acute malnutrition.

“We’re desperately trying to regain access to Taiz, and we continue to support the broader operations across Yemen,” said Azfar Deen, a WFP regional communications officer for eastern and Southern Africa.

In response to the humanitarian fallout, the European Commission said on Friday that it would release an additional ۲۲.۵ million euros ($۲۵.۲m) in aid to Yemen, adding to the ۸۷.۵ million ($۹۷.۹m) previously allocated for ۲۰۲۶.

Yemen has been rocked by conflict since the Houthis seized Sanaa and other provinces in ۲۰۱۴, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in ۲۰۱۵ to support the internationally recognised government.

A truce was brokered by the UN in ۲۰۲۲, but it fell apart this July, when the Houthis announced a blockade on Saudi ports.

The ensuing escalation has displaced nearly ۲۶۰,۰۰۰ people, the majority in Taiz and Lahij provinces, according to the UN. More than ۳,۸۰۰ people have also fled to neighbouring Djibouti.

At least ۱,۵۷۴ people have been killed and ۶,۹۳۹ others wounded in the conflict since August.