Middle East & North Africa
Taiz cut off for 20 days: UN says 800,000 people without aid, water output halved and 52,000 children acutely malnourished
UN agencies say Taiz City in Yemen has been encircled by Houthi forces for 20 days, with 800,000 people cut off from aid and water production down by half.
Taiz City in Yemen has been cut off for 20 days and the humanitarian situation inside it is deteriorating fast, UN agencies warned on Friday 23 October. Speaking in Geneva, OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke said the fighting around the city, which is encircled by de facto Houthi forces, has made it “impossible for us to get in and impossible for people to get out”, according to UN News.
The city is surrounded by forces of the Houthi movement, which are fighting troops of the Aden-based government along the west coast. The escalation began in early September, ending a period of relative calm that had held since a 2022 truce. Access roads are closed, and very little fuel, food or other supplies are reaching Taiz, the UN said.
Food and water
The UN World Food Programme says more than 800,000 people in Taiz are cut off from assistance, among them 600,000 who depend on humanitarian aid. WFP communications officer Azfar Deen said the agency is “desperately trying to regain access to Taiz”. Most residents rely on trucked water, but diesel for the trucks is scarce, Laerke said. Water production in the city has fallen by about half, and the price of water delivered by truck has roughly tripled.
Children and displacement
UNICEF says it has screened more than 168,000 children in Taiz this year and found over 52,000 acutely malnourished, including more than 11,500 with severe acute malnutrition. It has pre-positioned nearly 8,000 cartons of ready-to-use therapeutic food across Taiz governorate, enough for about three months, but spokesperson Ricardo Pires warned that access constraints and supply disruptions can make it harder to move supplies and for families to reach treatment.
The International Organization for Migration recorded about 258,679 displaced people between 7 June and 19 October, mostly in Taiz and Lahj governorates. Many families have moved repeatedly and are sheltering in already overstretched displacement sites and host communities. As of 17 October, 3,836 Yemenis had arrived in Djibouti, reportedly fleeing the worsening security situation.
What comes next
The UN did not announce a specific plan for opening a route into the city. Agencies say they are working to regain access, and the pre-positioned UNICEF supplies are expected to last roughly three months if they can be distributed. All figures are those given by the UN agencies concerned. The Houthi movement’s position on the access restrictions was not part of the UN briefing.
Earlier Geopolitiki reporting covers the wider crisis: Yemen: UN says more than 250,000 have fled renewed fighting, with 32 civilians confirmed killed in Taiz governorate, and Yemen: WFP says fighting has cut aid to 800,000 people, most of them in Taiz.