Taiz camps overflow with Yemenis fleeing fighting after Houthi offensive

What the report says

Taiz governorate in southwest Yemen is seeing a sharp new wave of displacement after renewed fighting between Houthi forces and Yemen’s internationally recognised government, Al Jazeera reported from Taiz on September 16, 2026. The article said camps in the area are filling with families fleeing battles that spread across several districts and toward the Red Sea coast.

Al Jazeera reported that at least 100,000 people have left their homes in the latest flare-up, citing the UN refugee agency. A local official overseeing displacement camps in Taiz told the outlet that 65,845 people were displaced between August 10 and September 15, with most arrivals coming from the hardest-hit districts of Jabal Habashi, al-Maafer, Maqbana, al-Wazi’iyah and Mawza. The report also said the Houthis captured the port city of Mocha and much of the Red Sea coast, prompting government forces to launch counterattacks in the southwest.

The story highlighted the strain on camps such as al-Munij and Mushrifa, where many displaced people are living in tents or even in the open because of limited shelter, water and sanitation. Residents described leaving behind homes, farms, livestock and other possessions as shells, drones and gunfire closed in.

More broadly, the report noted that the fighting has consequences beyond Taiz, because the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb corridor are important for shipping and regional security. Yemen’s civil war has been active for more than a decade, and the article said the current escalation threatens a UN-brokered truce that had reduced large-scale violence in 2022.