Taiz offensive deepens Yemen’s access and displacement crisis
Fighting around Taiz has intensified after the government announced an offensive, with road closures restricting access and civilian harm reported.
Yemen’s internationally recognised government has launched an offensive against Houthi forces in Taiz, where the sides are fighting over strategic positions. The announcement came on Sunday from Rashad al-Alimi, head of the Presidential Leadership Council, but the operation’s scope and progress remain unclear.
Fighting has centred on the western approaches to Taiz City, including Jabal Han and key roads into the city. Al Jazeera reporters described air strikes, artillery fire and clashes in surrounding countryside, while residents appealed for evacuation.
Government forces say they captured several areas, including Samaa Fort, and repelled Houthi attacks near Jabal Han. They also claimed hundreds of Houthi casualties. Al Jazeera said it could not verify the battlefield claims.
Local authorities reported that a shell struck a residential area in Dhubab, killing a 14-day-old infant. Other attacks have reportedly wounded civilians.
Yemen’s Executive Unit for IDP Camps Management says nearly 200,000 people have been displaced since fighting escalated in early September, most from Taiz. The figure has not been independently verified in the available reporting.
Closures of major roads into Taiz City have restricted access to humanitarian goods and services and raised fears of a worsening emergency. UNHCR and the World Health Organization have warned that the fighting threatens Yemen’s fragile healthcare system.
