Taiz Under Siege: Governor Warns of Supply Crisis and Reports Massacres

TVS News AI, editorially supervised, presents Taiz Under Siege: Governor Warns of Supply Crisis and Reports Massacres.

The Yemeni city of Taiz has reportedly been under siege for about a month, according to Governor Nabil Shamsan. His language is dramatic: the Houthis would send the city “back to the Stone Age.” In a briefing intended specifically to urge the international community to become more involved, he cited several concrete consequences: oxygen, water and food are running out, streets are being blocked by garbage, and massacres are taking place in Taiz.

Most of the information comes from Shamsan. He is therefore the central source for this warning, rather than an independent verification of every individual claim. This distinction is important because his account conflicts with the Houthi leader's statements in several places.

Water and Medical Care Collapse Under the Siege

The need for water is enormous, but access is minimal

According to the governor's estimates, Taiz needs at least 35,000 cubic meters of water every day. In reality, the Houthi group has allowed a maximum of 1,000 cubic meters per day to enter the city. Water deliveries have been stopped at the roadblocks around Taiz. In a picture from the source, residents fill containers with water at a distribution point.

The limited supplies are coming amid an already strained medical situation. Shamsan said up to 1,800 people needed dialysis but had no access to the necessary supplies. 120 health centers have been closed. Hospitals and intensive care units are under increasing pressure because water, oxygen and fuel are all in short supply.

Restaurants have also reportedly been forced to close because of the fuel shortage. Food stocks have been exhausted while the price of wheat is rising. Shamsan summed up the situation with the words: “We are not talking about life, only about survival.”

More Than 6,400 Families Seek Shelter From the Fighting

The siege is also reaching the civilian population

According to the governor, more than 6,400 newly displaced families have come to Taiz to escape the fighting. According to the report, each family averages seven members. Shamsan therefore described a threat to more than 800,000 people in the city.

The supply crisis is consequently not confined to individual households or hospitals. It also affects families who came to the besieged city only because they were displaced. At the same time, schools cannot operate normally: Shamsan reported that schools have been closed, affecting hundreds of thousands of children.

The security situation is also worsening, according to his account. He said the Houthis had almost complete control over the roads leading into the city. According to his description, residents were given the choice of “either leaving or dying.” Meanwhile, localities are being restructured after their capture by new religious leaders. Those living in occupied areas are expected to show loyalty to the Zaydi religion and sign documents confirming membership in the Houthis.

Shamsan also spoke of village children being forcibly sent to the fronts in Saada and other locations without their parents' consent. He therefore described the conflict not as a purely military confrontation, but as a “war of retribution” and a “revolution of identity.”

The Houthis Deny a Complete Blockade

Two accounts of the same siege

The statements by Shamsan and Houthi leader Abdul-Malik Badr al-Din al-Houthi differ markedly. Shamsan describes stopped water deliveries, missing supplies and a severe humanitarian situation. Al-Houthi, by contrast, said the route for food, medicine and humanitarian aid remained open and that anyone could come to Taiz personally to check the claim that the city was under siege.

Independent aid organizations also view the situation in Taiz as rapidly deteriorating. Niku Jafarnia, a Yemen researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the Houthis' renewed efforts to prevent food, water and medicine from entering Taiz showed their disregard for civilian life. During the 12-year siege, the Houthis had, according to her account, bombarded the city, starved it and blocked humanitarian aid for around one million residents.

For the period from August to October 20, 2026, Shamsan cited 64 deaths, including civilians, and 173 people injured. Communication between the city and the surrounding area had largely broken down, and mobile phone networks were “completely disrupted.” He was speaking from just 2 to 5 kilometers from the front. He also said grenade attacks on the city had become more frequent and that the Houthis were monitoring conversations and pressuring residents to abandon their resistance.

Shamsan therefore demanded not only expressions of solidarity, but access for aid organizations, including the United Nations, so that supplies can be brought into the city. The source does not specify what concrete measures the international community will take in response.