Time ‘running out’ to reach Yemen’s Taiz amid deepening crisis, UN says

What the report says

The United Nations says the humanitarian situation in Yemen’s Taiz city is worsening after nearly three weeks of siege by Houthi forces. According to Al Jazeera, the group has surrounded Taiz since early October, blocking the main road to Aden and sharply limiting the flow of food, fuel and other essentials. The UN warned that access for aid workers and for civilians trying to leave the city is increasingly restricted.

UN agencies said more than 800,000 people in Taiz are cut off from aid, with most of them reliant on humanitarian assistance. Al Jazeera reported that water delivered by truck has become far more expensive, cooking gas is scarce, and hospitals are facing severe shortages of fuel, oxygen, medicine and other supplies. Local relief groups are still trying to keep water pumps and medical facilities operating, but UN officials said the window for action is narrowing.

The report also highlighted the conflict’s effect on children and displaced families. UN screenings in Taiz have identified tens of thousands of children with acute malnutrition, including a large number in severe condition. Fighting has intensified in parts of Taiz province, while the broader Yemen war continues to fuel displacement and insecurity.

As a response, the European Commission said it would provide additional funding for Yemen. The article places the Taiz crisis within Yemen’s wider war, which began after the Houthis took Sanaa in 2014 and escalated further after the collapse of a UN-brokered truce earlier this year.