Houthis deprive Taizz of food and medicine
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Human Rights Watch
Ansar Allah, known as the Houthis, is depriving civilians in Taizz, Yemen, of food, water, medicine and fuel after tightening the city’s encirclement in October 2026. Human Rights Watch is calling for roads to be opened and humanitarian aid to reach the roughly one million people affected.
Houthi forces have completely encircled Taizz, Yemen’s third-largest city, and since October 2026 have blocked or attacked its last major supply route, causing severe shortages of fuel, food, water, medicine, cooking gas and humanitarian aid, according to Human Rights Watch.
The organisation interviewed 15 people in October, including five residents, four doctors and six civil society members. A Houthi spokesperson said on 21 October that Yemen’s government forces were blocking the roads, but residents, civil society actors and UN officials attributed the shortages to the Houthis.
The World Food Programme said on 14 October that it could no longer access the more than 600,000 people in Taizz who depend on humanitarian aid. It also reported that wheat flour reserves were nearly exhausted and that several neighbourhoods were experiencing emergency levels of hunger.
Human Rights Watch accused the Houthis of besieging Taizz since 2015, while government-backed forces control the city centre. The organisation called for the immediate opening of essential roads and access for aid to civilians, following the Houthis’ recent call to evacuate Aden airport.
