‘Taiz will not surrender:’ Official vows resistance as Houthi siege pushes residents toward humanitarian crisis

AL-MUKALLA: More than 1.3 million residents of the Yemeni city of Taiz are at serious risk of famine, severe water shortages and a major environmental disaster as the Iran-backed Houthis tighten their siege, a provincial official has warned.

Mohammed Al-Masani, director of the Taiz provincial office of the Ministry of Information, told Arab News from the besieged city that stocks of essential goods, including food and lifesaving medicines, were rapidly dwindling, while prices of the remaining supplies continued to rise as fighting intensified on the city’s outskirts.

“Taiz has been completely besieged,” Al-Masani said. “The city is in a state of famine and a highly critical situation. People are facing grave dangers. Food supplies are running out or have already run out, with only minimal emergency provisions remaining.”