Taiz Residents Cut Daily Water to Liters a Day as Houthi Advance Tightens

Drinking water is running critically short for the more than 1 million residents of Taiz as Houthi rebels tighten their grip on Yemen's third-largest city. Aid groups say access to wells is restricted, desalination plants are low on fuel, and water trucks are largely blocked from entering.

Hadil al-Shahid and her two young children used to go through 10 liters of bottled water a day for drinking and cooking. They now stretch that same amount across four days. "We stopped drinking coffee and tea, which we used to drink daily," she said by phone. She closed her hair salon after customers redirected their money to food and water. Her children, ages 10 and 5, eat mostly rice, bread and cheese.

The price of bottled water has risen as much as 75% in recent weeks, and some households are buying it on credit. Truckers who still make the trip to the city have in some cases tripled their rates. Flour and rice cost about 50% more than in the summer, and cooking gas prices have more than quadrupled, according to Hani Bafaqih of the aid group CARE.

Taiz province has taken in an estimated 124,000 displaced people since August, about half of those displaced elsewhere in Yemen, according to United Nations migration experts. Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for a UN emergency aid division, said some displaced families live in makeshift shelters or tents and survive on one meal a day. "The shortages feed into each other," Laerke said, warning that disease, including cholera, becomes more likely, especially as thirsty families use unprotected wells. Amnesty International has urged the Houthis to open roads into the city immediately, warning that Taiz is being pushed to "the brink of a severe humanitarian disaster."

Ahmed Abdel Gaber, who moved with nine relatives into the ruins of a building, said his income hauling construction material is no longer steady. "We heavily rely on assistance and donations from people to get food," he said. He hears explosions daily from fighting about 5 kilometers away, and his family will not return to their mountain village for safety reasons.

Houthi forces stepped up their advance on Taiz last month after capturing the port city of Mokha, about 130 kilometers away, which is vital to controlling Red Sea shipping. The government still holds the center of Taiz, but the siege complicates resupplying its forces. Ahmed Nagi of the International Crisis Group said any attempt to seize even parts of the city would likely mean "a prolonged and costly battle." Three Houthi officials, speaking anonymously, said the group controls about 80% of the surrounding countryside and several neighborhoods inside the city, a claim The Associated Press could not verify.

Earlier this week, Houthi missiles hit a residential area in Taiz and killed two teenage girls. Fuel shortages have hampered community kitchens and shut down waste collection. Al-Shahid cannot afford to leave. "Staying in our home is inevitable," she said, "whether it be a matter of life or death."}

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