Author, Nawal Al-Maghafi
Designation, Senior International Investigations Correspondent, BBC World
From ....., Taiz, Yemen
Published 3 minutes ago
Reading Time: 11 minutes
'This is the first drone,' said the soldier accompanying us in south-western Yemen. 'Usually this is followed by an attack.'
We hid under the bushes. The buzz of the drone above was getting louder. After this we sat in the car again and left from there.
After about 10 minutes, loud sounds of attacks were heard one after the other. However, it was not clear where the attacks took place.
Amid the mountains south-west of the city of Taiz, it is difficult to discern where the battlefield begins.
Forces supporting the Saudi Arabia-backed government are trying to push back the Houthi rebels.
Houthi rebels advanced rapidly from the Red Sea coast earlier this month. They took control of a narrow passage vital for shipping, and with this Yemen's civil war intensified.
empty house and silence
We started our journey from Taiz with pro-government forces to see the fighting up close.
Passing through several security posts, we reached the point where their control ends and an area begins where neither side has control.
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Houses are built at many places on the hill slopes. But many of these houses are lying vacant after families left to escape the fighting.
There is eerie silence. The sound of cars and motorcycles running fast in the city is not heard here. Only the bleating of goats and the sound of firing from both sides is heard.
"Two mortar shells fell on my land here," Ali said, sitting with a herd of goats outside his home, about a kilometer from the fighting area.
He said he had sent his children to a camp for displaced people because he could no longer bear the constant shelling and shelling.
Ali stayed there with his wife and sisters to take care of the animals.
He said, "I am very scared. But I have no other way. Without these animals we will all starve and die anyway."
He gave only his first name. They fear that if Houthi rebels take control of this area in the coming days, they may have to suffer the consequences.
Unable to remove bodies of 18 government soldiers
Contacts on the Houthi side told us that they are gathering their troops and preparing for a major attack.
When we asked the pro-government forces about this, they said that they were aware of it and they were also making preparations.
We met some fighters at the check post closest to the battle site.
They had returned from the fronts located at the height of the mountain. The advancing Houthi rebels were only a few hundred meters away from them.
One of the fighters told that the bodies of 18 government soldiers were lying in an area where his troops could fire but could not reach.
He said, "We fire over their bodies, but cannot remove them from there."
The fighting around Taiz intensified after 10 September.
That day, Houthi rebels captured the strategic port of Mokha on the Red Sea, 85 kilometers west of the city. This broke the ceasefire, which had largely been in place for nearly four years.
Houthi rebels took control of a large area near the strategically important Bab al-Mandab Strait. This sea route connecting Europe and Asia is very important for the movement of ships.
Fears of further disruption in supplies from this region increased, which also helped increase oil prices.
A city caught in the middle of a fierce battle
Taiz is Yemen's third largest city and the country's cultural capital. About 10 lakh people live here.
This city is located at a very important place connecting the areas under the control of Houthi fighters in northern Yemen and the areas under government control in the south. The city is surrounded by advancing fronts from several directions.
Government forces control the center of Taiz, while Houthi fighters have positions in the north and east of the city.
The most fierce fighting recently has taken place on the western streets of the city. Here both sides are fighting for control of the higher areas, where the road leading from the city to the south is visible.
If Houthi fighters take control of these areas, it may become more difficult for government forces to retake Mokha.
We reached Taiz from Aden in the south. Yemen's internationally recognized Presidential Leadership Council and government are based in Aden.
There were about 30 check posts on the way. Different parts of the road were under the control of different commanders. This clearly shows that the forces fighting on behalf of the government are divided into many parts.
As we approached the city, ambulances started passing us. Within half an hour we saw at least five ambulances heading towards the main hospital in Taiz.
It was clear that we were entering a city that was caught in the middle of a fierce battle.
We reached there after dark. Shops were bright, restaurants were full and children were playing in the streets.
But every now and then, other sounds would shatter this atmosphere. Loud booms of shelling and the sound of bullets could be heard from the mountains surrounding the city.
Iran's support to Houthi rebels
Taiz has been a key battleground in Yemen's devastating civil war.
In 2015, Houthi fighters ousted the government from Sanaa. After this he also tried to take control of Taiz, but local fighters drove him out of most parts of the city.
In their latest attack, Houthi fighters are using drones extensively along with other weapons.
According to experts from Saudi Arabia, Western countries and the United Nations, Iran provides the most outside help to the Houthi rebels. He says that Iran has provided him with weapons, money and military advice.
However, Iran has previously refused to supply arms to the Houthi rebels. He says that he only gives them political support.
For many years there have been continuous reports that Houthi rebels are recruiting children as soldiers. A government soldier told us that he had encountered such children in combat areas.
He said, "It is difficult to see a Yemeni child and shoot at him. But when that same child is pointing a gun at you, you have to protect yourself."
Houthi fighters had signed an 'action plan' with the United Nations in 2022. In this he promised to end this practice of making children soldiers.
How is life in the midst of war?
The BBC has also spoken to teenagers working with pro-government forces.
Meanwhile, the Saudi Arabia-led coalition is supporting the Yemen government and providing it with weapons.
The Saudi army has carried out hundreds of air strikes on Houthi rebel positions on the Red Sea coast.
At the same time, Houthi rebels have targeted cities and infrastructure in south-western Saudi Arabia with drones and missiles.
In the evening, wounded from the front lines were being brought to Al-Thawra hospital in Taiz. He was being admitted to the ICU, where every bed we could see was occupied.
Some patients were rebels and some were common people.
12-year-old Ghana Nabeel was grazing goats when fragments of a mortar shell hit her in the head. His family told that a mortar shell fired by Houthi fighters had fallen nearby.
She was lying unconscious. His head was bandaged and his face was swollen. There were also injury marks on the face.
His family sat near his bed, waiting to know what his life would be like if he regained consciousness.
A doctor told me that the injury had caused brain damage.
"She will never be the same again," he said.
Al-Monig displacement camp is about 20 kilometers south of Taiz.
There, amidst hundreds of tents, families fleeing Mokha and villages affected by the fighting were arriving.
We were told that 200 families had reached there in the last 10 days.
Maryam Saleh had come from Mokha a week ago with her husband and five children. Maryam Saleh is not her real name. His youngest child is seven years old.
Razia was sitting there knitting a cap. She wanted to sell it and raise money for that day's food.
He told me, "We came barefoot. We didn't bring anything with us, only our children."
He told that while running away from there, his nephew had died after being hit by fragments of a mortar shell. He was walking behind them.
He told that fighting was going on both in front and behind the family and bullets were being fired at the target. After this he saw armed people on the mountain.
He said, "We felt that we will not survive now."
He told that the children were screaming and crying, but the family continued walking.
According to Razia, after the Houthi fighters entered the city, when the people of Mokha tried to talk to them and convince them, they were given threats.
Fatima told that when the fighting reached her village, she was with her two sons and their children.
He said that because of him the pace of the family was slowing down. So he asked his sons to run away with the children.
After this he spent the next two days crawling on his hands and knees.
She said, "I was crawling. Bullets were coming from here and shells were falling there. There were bullets here and shells here. A sound was coming from above me as if the clouds were thundering. I was praying to God."
He told that after this a person going on a motorcycle saw him and took him to the camp.
He has not seen his family since then.
On September 22, the United Nations refugee agency said that so far this month, more than 1 lakh 30 thousand people have been displaced across Yemen. These people are in addition to the 52 lakh people already displaced due to the civil war.
The agency warned that one lakh more people like Fatima may be forced to leave their homes in the next three months.
Additional reporting: Jasmine Dyer
