Yemen’s Taiz faces deadly siege, as Shabwah death toll rises

The siege on Taiz has cut humanitarian supplies to the Yemeni city, the United Nations has warned, and left many of its inhabitants without food and other essentials.

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk said on Tuesday that the Houthis – an armed group also known as Ansar Allah (Arabic for Supporters of God), who have surrounded the city, must immediately allow humanitarian relief to enter or risk a catastrophe.

“The Houthis’ closure of the only supply route linking Taiz to Aden is placing civilians at grave risk, blocking humanitarian aid and cutting off essential supplies,” the high commissioner said.

“Humanitarian aid must be immediately allowed to enter the city and its passage must be facilitated. Civilians wishing to leave must be allowed to do so freely and safely.”

Besieged city

Taiz, which has been repeatedly besieged throughout the war, has been encircled again by the Houthis after they captured a major road linking the city to southern Yemen.

The humanitarian situation in Taiz is reaching a breaking point with the prices of basic commodities multiplying in price, amid shortages of some goods.

Continued fighting in Taiz governorate has also killed at least 32 civilians between August 1 and October 19, including 14 children. There are fears of more deaths as fighting approaches the city.

“I urge all parties to the conflict to refrain from the use of explosive weapons with wide-area effects in populated areas and to take all feasible precautions to protect civilians and civilian objects,” Turk said.

Yemen’s internationally recognised government had appealed to the United Nations to intervene and lift the blockade, warning that the Houthi siege threatens more than 4 million people.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that shifting front lines and road closures have cut off 800,000 people from life-saving assistance, the vast majority located in Taiz. Nationwide, more than 18 million Yemenis face severe food insecurity.

Forces aligned with the internationally-recognised government on Monday launched air strikes in Taiz governorate that destroyed Houthi reinforcements in Najd Qasim and a weapons depot in Jabal Habashi.

Shabwa attack

On Tuesday, local authorities raised the death toll from a Houthi attack on a military base in Shabwa governorate to 73.

Monday’s Houthi ballistic missile strikes on al-Alam camp were condemned by the Yemeni government as a “treacherous bloody assault” and a war crime.

President of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council Rashad al-Alimi formally requested the UN to designate the Houthis as a “terrorist organisation”.

The United Kingdom said on Tuesday it would deploy fighter jets to help protect Saudi Arabia from attacks by Yemen’s Houthis, after cities and infrastructure were targeted in rocket and drone attacks.

The British Ministry of Defence said that Typhoon warplanes would play a “defensive role” only and would not carry out attacks in Yemen.

Egypt’s parliament meanwhile delayed a vote on Monday to authorise the military to support Saudi Arabia in its fight against the Houthis.

Ali al-Dahab, a military and security strategic affairs expert, said that while there appears to be more international support for the anti-Houthi alliance, this will not likely translate into boots on the ground in Yemen.

“The probability of international ground forces engaging to confront the Houthis seems slim; expected participation will be limited to air and naval support,” he told Al Jazeera.

The Yemeni military launched a sweeping offensive dubbed “Dawn of Yemen” on 5 October to reverse recent Houthi advances. But despite initial successes in the early days of the campaign, with hundreds of Houthi fighters reportedly killed in air strikes, there are questions about whether these counter-offensives have run out of steam.

“The transition from defence to offence remains limited on the ground, and the map of the Yemeni government’s influence in al-Marib [an energy-rich part of central Yemen] has not expanded to the extent implied by the meaning of the [operation],” al-Dahab told Al Jazeera.

“Government forces must exploit the gaps created by conventional and drone air strikes in Houthi ranks by launching a multi-directional operation that turns this into a strategic shift, specifically in the northwestern direction toward Sanaa.”

Cross-border strikes

The intensification of ground battles in Yemen has triggered a wave of cross-border attacks between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi-led coalition said Tuesday it had intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile fired by the Houthis towards Riyadh. The attack prompted the Saudi Civil Defense to activate early warning platforms across the capital.

The Arab coalition has launched waves of strikes on Houthi positions across Yemen during the past week.

“On the strategic and long-term, [aerial attrition strikes] can have a tangible impact on the Houthis’ military infrastructure, structures, machines, and vehicles,” al-Dahab said.

However, he questioned the government’s ability to capitalise on these strikes on the western coast, where the Yemeni government is attempting to claw back losses from the Houthis.

“Do government forces have enough power to launch an attack toward Mocha on the coast or toward Hodeidah?” al-Dahab asked, noting that Houthi fighters are desperately holding onto the Kahboub mountains in Lahij for their commanding maritime view over the Gulf of Aden and the southern Red Sea.