Fighting has intensified around the Yemeni city of Taiz after Houthi forces captured the strategic Red Sea port of Mokha earlier this month, prompting renewed displacement and raising pressure on government-held areas.
Saudi-backed government forces are seeking to halt Houthi advances in the mountains south-west of Taiz, where front lines run through sparsely populated slopes and abandoned homes. The Houthis took Mokha, about 85km west of Taiz, on 10 September after a ceasefire that had largely held for four years broke down.
Mokha is near territory overlooking the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a major shipping route between Europe and Asia. The Houthi advance contributed to rising oil prices amid concerns about possible supply disruptions from the region, according to the report.
Front-line pressure on Taiz
Taiz, Yemen’s third-largest city and cultural capital, has close to one million residents. Government forces control the city centre, while Houthi positions are located north and east of it. Recent clashes have been most severe on western approaches, where both sides are contesting elevated ground above the road leading south.
Government forces said they were preparing for a possible larger Houthi offensive. Contacts on the Houthi side told the BBC that troops were being consolidated. A government fighter near the front line said 18 soldiers’ bodies remained in an area his unit could fire across but could not safely reach.
Government-held forces are divided among different commanders, with roughly 30 checkpoints marking control along the route from Aden to Taiz. Ambulances were seen travelling towards Taiz’s main hospital as fighting continued in surrounding mountains.
The Houthis have used drones in their latest offensive, alongside other weapons. Saudi Arabia, Western countries and UN experts have said Iran has supplied the group with weapons, funding and military advice. Iran has previously denied providing arms and says its support is political. Saudi Arabia leads a coalition that backs the Yemeni government and supplies it with weapons.
Civilians flee as hospital receives casualties
At al-Thawra hospital in Taiz, an intensive care unit was reported to be full with both combatants and civilians injured in the fighting. A 12-year-old girl, Ghana Nabeel, was brought in after being struck in the head by shrapnel while herding goats. Her family said a Houthi mortar had landed nearby, while a doctor said her brain had been damaged.
Families have also been arriving at the al-Monig displacement camp, about 20km south of Taiz. Camp residents said 200 families had arrived over the previous 10 days, including people who had fled Mokha and nearby villages.
One displaced woman said her family left Mokha on foot with only their children, while her nephew was killed by mortar shrapnel during their escape. Another woman, who said she could not walk, described crawling for two days before a motorcyclist took her to the camp.
On 22 September, the UN refugee agency said more than 130,000 people had been displaced across Yemen so far that month, in addition to 5.2 million already displaced during the civil war. It warned that a further 100,000 people could be forced from their homes over the following three months.
Source: BBC News
