UN urges Houthis to allow aid access to Taiz — Al Jazeera
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called on the Houthis to immediately allow humanitarian aid into the Yemeni city of Taiz, which they have surrounded. According to him, the closure of the only supply route connecting Taiz with Aden puts civilians in a dire situation, blocks aid and restricts access to essential goods.
As Al Jazeera reports, the Houthis, also known as the Ansar Allah movement, have once again surrounded Taiz after seizing a key road linking the city to the south of the country. Türk stressed that humanitarian shipments must reach the city without obstruction and that civilians wishing to leave should be able to do so freely and safely.
Shortages of goods and civilian casualties
The humanitarian situation in Taiz is approaching a critical threshold: prices for basic goods have risen severalfold, while some goods are in short supply. Yemen's internationally recognized government has asked the UN to intervene and lift the blockade. According to the government's estimate, the siege threatens more than 4 million people.
The UN World Food Programme said that 800,000 people have lost access to life-saving assistance due to shifts in the front line and road closures; the overwhelming majority of them are in Taiz. Overall, more than 18 million people in Yemen face severe food insecurity.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
From August 1 to October 19, at least 32 civilians, including 14 children, were killed as a result of hostilities in Taiz governorate. Türk called on all parties to the conflict not to use explosive weapons with wide-area effects in populated areas and to take all possible measures to protect civilians and civilian objects.
Attack in Shabwah and strikes on Saudi Arabia
Meanwhile, local authorities in Shabwah governorate raised the death toll from a Houthi attack on the Al-Alam military base to 73. The Yemeni government described the ballistic missile strikes on the camp, carried out on October 19, as a “treacherous bloody attack” and a war crime. Rashad al-Alimi, head of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council, formally asked the UN to designate the Houthis as a terrorist organization.
The Saudi-led coalition also said it intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis toward Riyadh. The United Kingdom said it would deploy Typhoon fighter jets to provide defensive support to Saudi Arabia following missile and drone attacks on the kingdom's cities and infrastructure. The UK Ministry of Defence stated that the aircraft would perform only a defensive role and would not strike Yemen.
