Yemen’s Taiz faces critical conditions under Houthi siege

Yemeni governorate of Taiz suffers from serious conditions due to the increasing battles witnessed in the province and its surrounding areas and the siege imposed by the Houthi militias against the province’s cities and villages during the recent two years.

The Yemeni province suffers from increasing problem because of the lack of water and electricity since the eruption of the battles between the governmental troops on one hand and Houthi militias and other forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The residents suffer from the increasing shortage of basic demands, as the insurgents turned to prevent the entry of drugs and food to the province’s cities.

According to reports, the Houthi militias managed to control a number of areas in the province during the recent weeks, as they committed increasing violations against the residents of these areas. They pushed many of them to leave their houses and bombed their houses.

Human rights activist Nashwan Al Galdoi said that the Houthi militias exploded six houses after their control on the cities located on the western area of Taiz, as they displaced 250 families. She added that the insurgents turned to besiege a number of villages controlled by the governmental troops, clarifying that they closed the roads leading to these villages to prevent the humanitarian aids from reaching to the residents of these villages.

She added that the Houthi militias killed over 142 citizens, including women and children, while injured 477 during the random bombardment against the villages controlled by the governmental troops in last January.

She expressed her frustration over the position adopted by the international organizations which strongly ignored the violations committed by the militants against the civilians, calling the international organizations for taking serious steps to contain the current deterioration in the humanitarian position.

On the other hand, Minister of Local Administration Abdel Raqeeb Fatah said that UN humanitarian official Stephen Obraien promised to support the role performed by the UN humanitarian agencies ease the situation in Aden during the coming period in cooperation with the legitimate government, stressing that Aden is currently safe.

The Yemeni president met with the UN official, as they discussed the current siege imposed by the insurgents against Taiz for two years, stressing the need for activating the United Nations’ role to ease the humanitarian situation there.

The UN official was keen to visit Aden Airport to inspect the security situation there. He stressed that the airport is qualified to receive the flights. He also take a tour in a number of Yemeni cities.

The Yemeni president visited Emirates as he met with the officials there to discuss the recent developments witnessed in the country on different social, political and economic levels. Presidential adviser Yassin Mekawi said that the visit comes to strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries.

He praised the major role performed by the Emirati government to support the Yemeni legitimate government on political and military levels, as Emirates is considered one of the major members of the Arab coalition working in Yemen to eliminate the Houthi militias and other forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.