Besieged Yemeni city on verge of ‘unmanageable’ crisis, aid workers warn

Water and fresh food are running out in Taiz, Yemen, as fighting intensifies and the Houthi advance cuts off most supply routes. The humanitarian crisis in the besieged city is becoming unmanageable, according to Oxfam aid workers in the country.

Houthi forces have largely encircled the city of more than 900,000 people, cutting it off from most supply routes. This week, heavy fighting has raged around the city’s old airport, causing extensive damage in a densely populated residential area. The conflict has intensified since forces loyal to the internationally recognized government and the Saudi-led coalition launched airstrikes on the Houthi-held airport in Sana’a in July, shattering a 2022 ceasefire deal that had largely stopped the fighting.

The UN has called for aid workers to be given access to Taiz. Oxfam in London has urged the UK to send extra humanitarian aid to the country. The UK has allocated just £104 million in aid to Yemen for each of the next three years, down from £196 million allocated in 2020. US aid to the stricken country has been virtually wiped out, and Germany, another leading funder, has halved its aid programme.

Donor countries have subscribed to only 23% of the cost of the UN humanitarian relief programme for Yemen this year, and pressure is growing on Saudi Arabia – itself cash-strapped by the cost of war – to make up the shortfall.