Al Mukalla: Bloody battles between government forces and Al Houthis and heavy shelling killed 172 people and injured 721 in Yemen’s city of Taiz last month, an alliance of local humanitarian groups and activists said.
Humanitarian Relief Coalition said in its monthly reported released on Thursday that 143 men, civilians and pro-government fighters, 23 children and six women were killed in November when the fighting intensified in the city as warning factions sought to make territorial gains ahead of predicted new round of peace talks. The coalition said most of the injured people are in critical condition at poor local hospitals and could die if they did not receive immediate medical treatment abroad.
Taiz, Yemen’s third largest city, has been the scene of heaviest clashes between forces of the intentionally recognised government and Al Houtihs and their ally, the ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh. Hundreds of people have been killed since early last year when Al Houthis sent their fighters to take control of the city during their rapid military expansion. Army units and local tribesmen came together and formed a military council to fight off Al Houthis advances. A military operation by the Saudi-led coalition turned the tide of the war in favour of the government forces.
The Humanitarian Relief Coalition blamed Al Houthis heavy shelling on the city’s residential areas for most of the deaths and destruction of property. Ameen Al Haydari, a member of the coalition, told Gulf News yesterday that Al Houthi shelling and fighting destroyed 65 government facilities and houses including seven schools and forced hundreds of people into fleeing their homes. “There are 752 families fled their homes in Salo district that witnessed heavy clashes last month.”
Despite their attacks and the siege on the city, Al Houthis have failed to break into the government forces defences in the city centre. Al Haydari said humanitarian aid did not stream into the city they predicted since the government forces partially broke Al Houthis siege in August. He warned that the city is on the brink of starvation if humanitarian aid groups did not act swiftly. “People have not received their already low salaries for months, there is no aid, and Al Houthis are still laying siege on the city. These conditions could cause severe widespread famine in Taiz similar to the current one in Hodeida.”
The coalition said the war has displaced more than 16,000 families who live in miserable humanitarian conditions in the countryside or with their relatives.
