More than 135,000 people displaced in Yemen's Taiz province in two months

Official figures on the scale of displacement

More than 135,000 people were forced to leave their homes in the southwestern Yemeni province of Taiz over roughly two months. These figures were presented on Wednesday by Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Mukhtar Omar Saleh Al-Yafi at a government press conference in the temporary capital, Aden, reports the Anadolu agency, citing the Yemeni state agency SABA.

What the statistics recorded

The figures cover the period from August 10 to October 15 — a time of military escalation and, according to the government, a siege imposed by the Houthi group in part of the province. According to the minister, field monitoring recorded the displacement of 19,600 families comprising 135,587 people, including 52,979 children. Over the same period, the ministry documented 494 violations against civilians, including 79 killed and 206 wounded. Damage to 56 residential buildings, 12 educational institutions, eight medical facilities, and 10 roads and bridges was also recorded.

The humanitarian situation and the state of healthcare

Taiz Governor Nabil Shamsan added that more than 1.3 million people live in the six districts affected by the siege, and shelling has damaged or destroyed about 676 houses. He warned that the operation of 12 hospitals and 18 medical centers is under threat. In Houthi-controlled areas, he said, 120 medical facilities have completely ceased operating, and another 66 are functioning only partially — this has disrupted access to care for more than 186,000 children under five and nearly 23,000 pregnant women. The minister called for expanding the humanitarian response to cover the funding shortfall and gaps in basic services.

Context of the conflict

Taiz — Yemen's most populous province — remains divided between government forces and the Houthis: the city of Taiz, the provincial capital, and other parts of the province are held by the government. Since July, the confrontation between government forces and the Houthis has intensified again, especially in Taiz and Lahj; according to UN figures cited by Anadolu, it has killed and wounded thousands of people. The war in Yemen has been ongoing since September 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and a number of provinces, and the Saudi Arabia–led Arab coalition intervened in March 2015 in support of the internationally recognized government.