Yemen’s internationally recognised government has warned of an imminent health and humanitarian disaster in Taiz, a besieged city in the country’s southwest. Officials said the Houthis are maintaining their blockade and blocking essential supplies from reaching the city.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the Ministry of Public Health and Population said stocks of medicines, intravenous fluids, medical supplies and fuel at Taiz’s medical facilities were running low. It warned that emergency care, surgery, intensive care, dialysis and newborn services could be suspended if conditions continued, leaving patients, wounded people, pregnant women and infants exposed to immediate danger.
Fuel shortages threaten generators, ambulances and vaccines
The ministry also said the fuel shortage endangers the generators that keep facilities running and the ambulances used to move patients. Cold storage needed to keep medicines and vaccines usable is at risk as well.
Without action, the ministry added, these gaps could lead to serious complications and deaths that could have been prevented.
Ministry calls for lifted siege and UN aid
The ministry demanded that the siege be lifted immediately and that supply routes be reopened. It also asked for guaranteed safe passage for patients, ambulances, health workers and aid convoys.
It urged the United Nations and humanitarian groups to deliver medicines, intravenous fluids, medical supplies, oxygen and fuel to Taiz’s health facilities, warning that every delay raises the risk of service failure and loss of life. The UN refugee agency and the World Health Organization have also warned that the fighting is placing Yemen’s fragile health system in peril.
Nabil Sharyan, a lawyer who heads the Justice for Rights and Development Organization, said civilians should never be turned into a means of pressure in any conflict.
Houthi siege of Taiz since 2015 and renewed fighting
The Houthis, an Iran-backed armed group also known as Ansar Allah, seized the capital, Sanaa, by force in 2014 and later established their own government. They control the north and northeast of the country.
Taiz endured a severe Houthi siege from 2015 to 2016, when government forces were confined to an enclave in the city centre. The siege was broken in 2016, but the Houthis kept a partial blockade through other access points. A 2024 agreement to reopen a route from the east collapsed when fighting resumed.
The current encirclement took shape in early October. After advancing along the Red Sea coast of Taiz governorate in September and capturing the port city of Mocha, the Houthis took the town of At Turbah by October 4, cutting the last main road between Taiz city and other government-held areas. Government forces, backed by Saudi Arabia, launched a counteroffensive in early October.
Nabil Jamil, director-general of the government’s planning and development office in Taiz governorate, said the present siege is more comprehensive and more damaging than the one in 2015. He said about 2.8 million people live in government-held areas of the governorate, along with 200,000 recently displaced people.
Fuel has become scarce, and black-market prices have surged. A 20-litre container of petrol rose from 30,000 Yemeni riyals ($19) to 90,000 ($58). Jamil said residents are still waiting for a response or intervention on the ground.
