More than 250,000 people have fled renewed fighting in Yemen since August, the United Nations said on Tuesday, warning that the southwestern city of Taiz has become the centre of a deepening humanitarian emergency.
The UN said access to Taiz city and the surrounding governorate was “essentially blocked” after Houthi forces closed the only supply route linking the city to Aden. The closure has halted aid deliveries and cut off food, fuel, medicine and other essential supplies, according to APP.
“The Houthis’ closure of the only supply route linking Taiz to Aden is placing civilians at grave risk,” said Volker Turk, the UN human rights chief.
He urged Houthi fighters, who have encircled Taiz, to allow humanitarian assistance to enter immediately. At least 32 civilians have been confirmed killed across the governorate, including 14 children and nine women. The UN warned that casualties could rise sharply as fighting moves closer to crowded urban areas.
The clashes resumed last month between Houthi forces, formally known as Ansar Allah, and Yemen’s internationally recognised government based in Aden. The fighting ended the relative calm that had followed a 2022 truce.
Taiz is receiving about half of those recently displaced. Many families have fled more than once and are now sheltering in overcrowded camps or communities with little food and almost no clean water.
“Many people have fled repeatedly,” said Akhil Iyer, UNICEF’s representative in Yemen. “They’ve literally arrived with just the clothes on their backs.”
The World Food Programme said wheat flour stocks in affected parts of Taiz were nearly exhausted. Ten of the governorate’s 16 districts were already classified as facing emergency levels of food insecurity.
Sanitation services are also collapsing. Rubbish is accumulating in Taiz, while a shortage of diesel threatens water-pumping stations. UNICEF said ready-to-use therapeutic food for malnourished children had been stockpiled, but could not be delivered because all main routes were closed.
The World Health Organization said 12 hospitals in Taiz had only about four days of fuel left. Oxygen cylinders were in daily shortage, and most essential medicines had stocks lasting a week or less.
The UN warned that Yemen, already battling cholera and measles outbreaks, could face a wider health crisis. It also said about 65,000 refugees and asylum-seekers, mostly from Somalia and Ethiopia, urgently need support.
The UN called on all parties to protect civilians, safeguard hospitals and water systems, and allow aid workers immediate access.
