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The humanitarian crisis is rapidly worsening in Taiz City, Yemen, after the area was besieged by de facto Houthi forces fighting government troops along the country's western coast. According to an October 23, 2026, UN News report, aid agencies warned that road closures have obstructed incoming supplies while making it difficult for residents to leave the city.
Access cut off for 20 days
Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, said Taiz had been cut off for 20 days. The fighting has prevented humanitarian agencies from entering the city, while residents are also struggling to leave. With road access closed, only limited amounts of fuel, food, and other necessities can reach the area.
The escalation between Houthi forces and the Aden-based government began in early September. It ended a period of relative calm that had followed the 2022 ceasefire. The fighting around Taiz is now creating not only security concerns but also obstacles to humanitarian operations for residents already facing chronic and urgent needs.
Hundreds of thousands without aid
The UN World Food Programme, WFP, reported that more than 800,000 people in Taiz had been cut off from aid. The figure includes 600,000 people who depend on humanitarian assistance and 200,000 women and children. WFP regional communications officer Azfar Deen said the agency was working to regain access to Taiz while continuing to support broader operations in Yemen.
Another increasingly urgent problem is the dwindling water supply. According to OCHA, most Taiz residents rely on water delivered by truck. Road closures and shortages of diesel needed to operate vehicles have reduced water production in the city by about half, while the price of trucked water has roughly tripled. These conditions are placing an even greater burden on residents trapped inside the city.
Threat of malnutrition among children
The UN Children's Fund, UNICEF, highlighted worsening hunger in Yemen. In Taiz, the agency has screened more than 168,000 children so far this year. It found that more than 52,000 children were suffering from acute malnutrition, including more than 11,500 with severe acute malnutrition.
UNICEF has positioned nearly 8,000 cartons of ready-to-use therapeutic food at several locations across Taiz Governorate. The supplies are expected to be sufficient to sustain services for about three months. However, UNICEF spokesperson Ricardo Pires explained that access restrictions and disruptions to supply routes could still make it difficult for partners to transport aid and for families to reach treatment sites safely.
Displacement continues to rise
The International Organization for Migration, IOM, recorded about 258,679 people displaced between June 7 and October 19, 2026. Most were in Taiz and Lahj governorates. Many families reportedly had to move repeatedly before seeking shelter at displacement sites and within host communities whose capacity was already strained.
The impact of deteriorating security is also visible outside Yemen. By October 17, a total of 3,836 Yemeni nationals had arrived in Djibouti and were reported to be fleeing the worsening security situation. Reports cited by UN News also said that at least 1,574 people had been killed and another 6,939 injured in the Yemen conflict since August.
