Taiz hospitals near collapse as Houthis tighten siege: Yemen government

Medical services in Taiz risk shutting down as fuel, medicines, and supplies run alarmingly low under Houthi blockade.

People shop at a market in Yemen's southwestern city of Taiz on October 8, 2026 [AFP]

Yemen’s internationally recognised government has warned of an “imminent health and humanitarian catastrophe” in the besieged city of Taiz, in the country’s southwest, as the Houthis continue their siege and “obstruct essential supplies”.

Yemen’s Ministry of Public Health and Population said in a statement on Saturday that medicines, intravenous fluids, medical supplies and fuel at the city’s health facilities were “nearing depletion”.

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It said emergency care, surgery, intensive care, dialysis and neonatal services could be forced to stop if the situation continued, putting patients, injured people, pregnant women and newborns “at immediate risk”.

Fuel shortages also threaten electricity generators, ambulances and the cold chains that keep medicines and vaccines usable, which could cause “severe complications and preventable deaths”, the ministry said.

It demanded the siege be lifted immediately, and supply routes reopened, with safe passage for patients, ambulances, health workers and aid.

It called on the United Nations and humanitarian organisations to “deliver medicines, intravenous fluids, medical supplies, oxygen and fuel” to the city’s health facilities.

“Every delay increases the risk of service interruption and loss of life,” the ministry said.

The Houthis, an armed group backed by Iran and also known as Ansar Allah, seized Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, by force in 2014 and later imposed their own government. They control the country’s north and northeast.

Taiz endured a devastating Houthi siege between 2015 and 2016, when Yemeni government forces were confined to an enclave in the city centre.

The siege was broken in 2016, though the Houthis kept a partial blockade through other access points. In 2024, they agreed to reopen a route from the east, but it has been closed after fighting resumed.

The renewed siege took shape in early October.

The Houthis launched an offensive along the Red Sea coast of the Taiz governorate in September, capturing the port city of Mocha, and by October 4 had taken the town of At Turbah, cutting the last main road between Taiz city and other government-held areas.

Yemeni government forces, backed by Saudi Arabia, began a counteroffensive in early October.

Nabil Jamil, director-general of the Yemeni government’s planning and development office in the Taiz governorate, told Al Jazeera the current siege is “more comprehensive and its impact more severe than in 2015”.

He said about 2.8 million people live in government-held areas of the governorate, along with 200,000 who have recently been displaced.

Fuel has become scarce, and on the black market, the price of a 20-litre (5.2-gallon) container of petrol has risen from 30,000 Yemeni riyals ($19) to 90,000 ($58).

“We are still waiting for a response or intervention on the ground,” Jamil said.

The UN refugee agency and the World Health Organization have warned that the fighting is putting Yemen’s fragile health system in peril.

“Civilians must never be turned into a means of exerting pressure in any conflict,” said Nabil Sharyan, a lawyer and head of the Justice for Rights and Development Organization.

由于胡塞武装的封锁，塔伊兹的燃料、药品和物资供应急剧减少，医疗服务面临关闭的风险。

2026年10月8日，人们在也门西南部城市塔伊兹的一个市场上购物。[法新社]

也门国际公认的政府警告称，随着胡塞武装继续围困该国西南部城市塔伊兹并“阻碍基本物资供应”，该市即将面临“迫在眉睫的健康和人道主义灾难”。

也门公共卫生和人口部周六发表声明称，该市医疗机构的药品、静脉输液、医疗用品和燃料“即将耗尽”。

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也门塔伊兹居民担忧战乱引发粮食和燃料危机（共3条记录，此为第2条）

联合国称，也门战乱升级，超过20万人流离失所（共3项，此为第3项）。

声明称，如果这种情况持续下去，急诊护理、手术、重症监护、透析和新生儿服务可能被迫停止，使患者、受伤人员、孕妇和新生儿“面临直接风险”。

该部表示，燃料短缺还会威胁到发电机、救护车以及保持药品和疫苗可用的冷链，这可能导致“严重的并发症和可预防的死亡”。

它要求立即解除围困，重新开放补给路线，确保病人、救护车、医务人员和援助物资的安全通行。

它呼吁联合国和人道主义组织向该市的医疗机构“运送药品、静脉输液、医疗用品、氧气和燃料”。

该部表示：“每一次延误都会增加服务中断和人员伤亡的风险。”

胡塞武装（又称安萨尔真主）由伊朗支持，于2014年武力占领也门首都萨那，随后建立自己的政府。他们控制着也门北部和东北部地区。

2015 年至 2016 年间，也门政府军被胡塞武装围困在塔伊兹市中心的一个飞地内，塔伊兹遭受了毁灭性的围困。

2016年围困解除，但胡塞武装仍通过其他通道保持部分封锁。2024年，他们同意重新开放一条来自东部的通道，但战斗重燃后，该通道再次关闭。

新一轮围攻于10月初形成。

9 月，胡塞武装沿塔伊兹省红海沿岸发动攻势，占领了港口城市摩卡，到 10 月 4 日，他们攻占了阿图尔巴镇，切断了塔伊兹市与其他政府控制区之间的最后一条主要道路。

在沙特阿拉伯的支持下，也门政府军于10月初开始反攻。

也门政府规划发展办公室塔伊兹省主任纳比勒·贾米尔告诉半岛电视台，目前的围困“比 2015 年的围困更加全面，影响也更加严重”。

他说，该省政府控制区内约有 280 万人居住，另有 20 万人最近流离失所。

燃料变得稀缺，在黑市上，20 升（5.2 加仑）汽油的价格已从 30,000 也门里亚尔（19 美元）上涨到 90,000 也门里亚尔（58 美元）。

贾米尔说：“我们仍在等待实地方面的回应或干预。”

联合国难民署和世界卫生组织警告说，战乱正在危及也门脆弱的卫生系统。

“在任何冲突中，绝不能将平民当作施加压力的工具，”律师兼“争取权利与发展正义组织”负责人纳比勒·沙里扬说。