Al Mukalla: At least 1,535 civilians have been killed in Al Houthi attacks in Taiz since March, local monitoring groups in Taiz told Gulf News on Saturday.
The Humanitarian Centre for Rights and Development, a grouping of local human rights activists, said that death toll included 166 children and 102 women. Meanwhile, 221 activists have been kidnapped who have openly challenged Al Houthi occupation of Taiz.
“The city is under tight siege from all sides and many residents are dying in hospitals because there is a shortage in oxygen,” Hamoud Saeed, an activist and co-author of the report, said.
Resistance fighters control much of the inner-city while Al Houthis are on the outskirts. Because Al Houthis are unable to penetrate the inner-city areas due to fierce resistance, they have resorted to indiscriminate shelling.
As a result, ‘vulnerable’ civilians are being killed.
“Last month, a group of children near a drinking water tank were killed when a shell fell on them,” Saeed said. Others have been killed playing football.
Taiz, the third largest city in Yemen, has been gripped by bloody clashes between Al Houthi militants backed by forces loyal to ousted Yemen president Ali Abdullah Saleh and Yemeni resistance fighters backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition.
The report was being sent to the United Nations and other international human rights organisations.
“The international community must grasp the gravity of the situation here,” Saeed said. “Al Houthis must be pressured to end the siege.”
Meanwhile, on the battlefield, resistance fighters told Gulf News at least four Al Houthis were killed in an operation on Al Warag mountain.
Local military sources confirmed 15 Al Houthi forces killed on Friday in Jawf.