Yemen - Houthis: More than 300,000 people on the run, the situation in Tais is particularly dramatic

More than 300,000 people are on the run in western Yemen, the United Nations reports. The reason: The renewed fighting between the pro-Iranian Houthi militia and government troops supported by Saudi Arabia.

Almost all those affected have fled their hometowns in the past two months, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Sunday. People “urgently need protection, food, clean water and health care.”

After four years of relative calm, the conflict between the Houthis and government troops in Yemen has intensified again since July. In September, the Houthis launched a new offensive in the west of the country. Saudi Arabia, which supports the internationally recognized government in Yemen, has since attacked Houthi positions several times.

There is an acute shortage of fuel, food, water, medicine and cooking gas, said the human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW). “The Houthis cannot justify the humanitarian catastrophe they are causing the civilian population with the siege of Taizz,” said Niku Jafarnia, Yemen expert at HRW. The Houthis must immediately allow the import of food, fuel, medicine and water, as well as the delivery of humanitarian aid, to prevent further suffering.

According to city residents, the Houthis are now completely besieging the city. Taizz had been under siege by the Houthis for years starting in 2015. After some access roads were opened in 2024, it was surrounded again as part of a new offensive.

The World Health Organization (WHO) warns of outbreaks of communicable diseases in a recent report. According to the WHO, Taizz province is one of the areas most affected by a cholera outbreak in the civil war country. At the same time, it is home to the largest proportion of displaced people in Yemen, with around 126,000 people. The situation in accommodation, water supply and sanitation continues to pose the greatest health risks. There are also interruptions in waste disposal.

The UN emergency relief office OCHA is particularly concerned about the water supply in Taizz. Many people in the city rely on drinking water from trucks, OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke said recently. However, diesel is becoming scarce. Water production has halved in the past few weeks and the price of the water supplied has tripled, the spokesman explained. According to the WHO, some medical supplies had reached Taizz, but others had to remain in camps in Aden due to restricted access routes.