War in Yemen: City of Tais in Yemen surrounded - people live in fear

Sanaa. In Yemen, hundreds of thousands of residents of the city of Tais are increasingly cut off from the outside world due to the advance of the Houthi rebels. Fighters from the Shiite militia have been trying for weeks to completely surround the city - possibly with the aim of driving out the government and allied fighters. Tais is the third largest city in the country after Sanaa and Aden and has been repeatedly fought over in the civil war that has been going on for ten years.

Residents are struggling to provide themselves with the essentials. “We went on an exhausting search for a gas bottle or even flour and water,” said a mother of three to the dpa news agency. “We live permanently in fear and worry.” Many things can no longer be found on the markets due to the tightened blockade. Another resident said that diesel and water for domestic use were also hard to find.

Some traders are said to be hoarding goods, making the situation even worse. Some stores only sell drinking water in liter bottles and also set maximum quantities per family when selling. The shortage has driven up prices for food and fuel.

Due to ongoing fighting, many areas are no longer accessible to humanitarian aid workers and roads are closed. The World Food Program (WFP) said that around 800,000 people in the country could no longer receive food, including 600,000 in Tais who were dependent on assistance.

Tais lies between the central highlands and the west coast on the Red Sea and is also considered an access point to the port city of Aden and thus the political center of the south. The Houthis in Tais blocked key roads at entrances to the city starting in 2015 and prevented residents from leaving at checkpoints. The virtual siege lasted years. The roads were partially opened in 2024, but Tais is surrounded again as part of the new Houthi offensive. The Houthi militia is an ally of Iran.

A man named Abdullah al-Hajj told the dpa that he had experienced difficult and painful days. He had lived in Tais for decades but fled to Aden with his family for fear of a Houthi takeover. The journey took 17 hours. In Aden they would have had to sleep in an expensive hotel despite money worries. He hoped that Yemen could return to a state of “peace and harmony.”