Dodging snipers, housing crisis forces Yemenis to live on front line

What the report says

Al Jazeera reports from Taiz, Yemen, that a severe housing shortage and widespread poverty are pushing some families to live near the city’s front line despite the threat of gunfire and snipers. The article focuses on residents who say safer housing is unaffordable after years of war damaged homes, displaced families and drove up rents in the central Yemeni city.

One resident, identified by the pseudonym Um Yousef for security reasons, is a widowed mother of four who moved to a home near the front line in January 2025 after months of searching for affordable shelter. Al Jazeera says she could not pay the typical rent of about $130 for a three-bedroom house, while the front-line home cost about $13 a month. Two months after moving, her 11-year-old son was shot while outside; he was treated in hospital and released the next day.

The report says Taiz is especially exposed because its urban front line lies between Yemeni government forces and Houthi rebels, with hills and high ground creating sniper positions. Al Jazeera cites a United Nations monitoring project that found 66 percent of Yemen’s recorded civilian casualties from sniper shootings last year were in Taiz; nine of the 21 recorded cases were children.

Local statistics official Khalid Alwan told Al Jazeera that more than 10,000 homes in Taiz have been fully or partly damaged, with many more not counted. Aid groups have repaired some homes, including Nahda Makers Organisation, but the reported need remains far larger. The story underscores how Yemen’s long war continues to shape daily survival decisions even during periods of relative de-escalation.