Fighting rages in Yemen’s Taiz as UN warns nearly 260,000 now displaced

Key points

• Fighting between government forces and the Houthis has intensified in Taiz province, with government forces reporting 835 targeting operations against the group.
• OCHA says almost 260,000 people have been displaced since August, about half of them in Taiz, and the UN has verified 251 civilian casualties, half of those killed being children.
• A Houthi strike on King Fahd airport in Dammam raised the death toll to two, and the US ordered non-essential embassy staff and family members in Riyadh to leave.

Fighting has intensified in Yemen's Taiz province between forces loyal to the internationally recognised government and the Houthis, as the United Nations warned that nearly 260,000 people have been displaced since August.

Government forces spokesperson Majid al-Nazili said on Wednesday that 835 targeting operations were launched against the Houthis, killing or injuring 285 members of the armed group and destroying battle tanks and weapons stores. He said intense clashes also took place in the strategic highlands of Jabal Han in western Taiz, with heavy fighting reported in the Dhubab and al-Masrakh districts.

Displacement and civilian toll

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said about half of the displaced have taken refuge in Taiz, where fighting is now concentrated. In a report released late on Wednesday, OCHA said the UN Human Rights Office has verified 251 civilian casualties, including 57 people killed and 194 injured, with half of those killed being children.

OCHA said humanitarian partners have reached more than 174,000 displaced people since August, nearly six in 10 displaced households, providing food, hygiene kits and emergency cash. It said newly displaced families report shelter as their most pressing need, followed by food and cash. Yemen's Ministry of Education earlier announced that more than 2.5 million children are out of school because of the conflict.

Newly displaced families say that their most pressing need is shelter, followed by food and cash

— OCHA

Regional strikes and US alert

The fighting comes as government forces press on with their "Dawn of Yemen" counteroffensive, launched earlier this month to recapture Houthi-held areas including the capital, Sanaa, with support from the Saudi-led coalition. The operation followed the Houthis' declaration of a blockade on Saudi Arabia in the Bab al-Mandeb strait in July and offensives along Yemen's Red Sea coast.

Saudi Arabia's Authority of Civil Aviation said on Thursday that the death toll had risen to two after a Houthi strike on King Fahd airport in Dammam on Wednesday evening. The US State Department said on Wednesday it ordered non-essential staff and family members at its embassy in Riyadh to leave the country. Government forces accused the Houthis of striking the Aden and al-Rayyan airports on Wednesday, and Presidential Leadership Council head Rashad Al-Alimi condemned the strikes and urged the international community to proscribe the group as a "terrorist" organisation.