Yemen: More Than 250,000 Displaced as Fighting Escalates, UN Warns of Crisis

More than 250,000 people have been internally displaced in Yemen since fighting flared again in July, according to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), as battles between the Houthis and forces loyal to the internationally recognized government rage across multiple front lines.

In a statement on Tuesday, UNHCR said the southwestern city of Taiz is the epicenter of the displacement crisis, accounting for 76 percent of people leaving their homes and hosting 52 percent of the newly displaced. Lahij, also in the southwest, has taken in 23 percent of the newly displaced, followed by the southern city of Aden with 13 percent.

UNHCR said: “Increased shelling in Taiz, including in residential areas and around medical facilities, while insecurity and restrictions on key roads continue to hamper humanitarian access and movement.”

The Houthi movement, also known as Ansar Allah, has besieged Taiz since early October, blocking the road linking the city to Aden, the interim capital of the Saudi-backed, internationally recognized government.

UNHCR spokesperson Matthew Saltmarsh told a news conference in Geneva, Switzerland: “The most urgent needs we have identified are shelter, food and multipurpose cash assistance.” According to the agency, about 33,700 families still need shelter support as the humanitarian response to the war is severely underfunded.

The UN children's agency UNICEF said separately that escalating fighting and fuel shortages in Taiz are threatening a water system serving about 3 million people, including at least 1.6 million children. Akhil Iyer, UNICEF's representative in Yemen, told the Geneva news conference: “Taiz was already one of Yemen's most water-scarce areas, and now it faces new pressure on the most essential services for thousands of displaced families.”

The warnings came as fighting between the Saudi-backed government forces and the Iran-aligned Houthis continues to intensify.

According to local officials, the death toll from a Houthi ballistic missile attack on a military training camp in Yemen's Shabwa province has risen to at least 58. The Yemeni government described the site as a security training center far from the front lines, while the Houthis said they targeted Saudi-backed forces. Hospitals in Ataq faced blood shortages as medical teams responded to casualties and families searched for missing relatives.

The attack was followed by retaliatory strikes by government forces near Taiz, raising further concerns about Yemen's worsening humanitarian crisis.

Reporting from the capital, Sanaa, Al Jazeera correspondent Yousef Mawry said: “The Houthis show no sign of backing down. Their military spokesman says they are continuing to carry out more missile attacks deep inside Saudi territory.” He added: “As cross-border attacks increase, Yemenis fear the war is moving closer to their homes, especially as both sides threaten to escalate attacks while Saudi Arabia intensifies its air campaign.”

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition Turki al-Maliki said coalition forces had destroyed 127 Houthi weapons depots and missile launchers.

Britain said it will deploy Royal Air Force jets on defensive missions to help protect Saudi Arabia from the surge in Houthi attacks. The UK Ministry of Defence said in a statement that Typhoon fighter jets will operate in a “defensive role” and will not carry out strikes against the Houthis.

Tensions in Yemen have soared since July, when the Houthis announced a blockade of Saudi ports, and fighting escalated sharply last month when the group seized strategic territory from government-loyal forces along the Red Sea coast.

Saudi-backed government forces responded to the losses with a counteroffensive and launched the “Yemen Dawn” campaign aimed at retaking Houthi-held territory, including Sanaa, which the group has controlled since 2014.