The Houthis have almost surrounded Taiz, the third most populous city in Yemen, cutting off the main supply routes. According to the Financial Times, quoted by RBC, in recent days the fighters have advanced along key routes to the city, and its main entrances have already become a front line. Only a few cars have managed to reach Taiz.
Residents say that leaving the city is dangerous because of the need to cross the line of combat. Gasoline tankers cannot reach Taiz, which has increased fuel prices many times over. The city is running low on food and medicine, and residents are stocking up on essential goods amid fears of a new, prolonged blockade.
Last main road to the city cut off
On October 4, the Houthis captured the town of Al-Turba, located south of Taiz. According to “Al Jazeera“, this cut off the last main road connecting the city to government-controlled areas. According to the media, the price of 20 liters of gasoline on the black market has increased from 30,000 to 90,000 Yemeni riyals.
The American agency Associated Press reports that Taiz has over 1 million inhabitants. The city has already been under siege for years during the civil war, and the new offensive has led to shortages of diesel fuel, cooking gas and food. Some residents are using wood and cardboard to cook food, while traders are raising prices for goods and water.
“Hospitals could run out of diesel at any moment. This is a huge disaster”, Fahd Nazari of the Taiz provincial health department told the Associated Press.The government's military operation
The offensive comes against the backdrop of the Yemeni government's military operation against the Houthis announced in early October. Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, said the goal is to reclaim territory controlled by the group. Government forces, backed by Saudi Arabia, are fighting in areas around Taiz and trying to restore access to the city.
The Financial Times quoted analyst Adam Baron as saying that the capture of Taiz would have strategic and symbolic importance for the Houthis. The city is known as a center of resistance to the group and is the birthplace of Rashad al-Alimi. Control of it could open the way to Aden, home to Yemen's internationally recognized government.
The country's civil war began in September 2014, when the Houthis seized Sanaa. Since then, Yemen has had two de facto centers of power: the Houthis control the capital and much of the north and west, while the internationally recognized government is based in Aden and holds most of the south and east.