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Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday warned escalating Houthi military efforts in and around the city of Taizz have cut off civilian access to living necessities and humanitarian aid.
“Renewed efforts by the Houthis to cut off food, water, and medicine to Taizz show their utter disregard for civilian lives,” Niku Jafarnia, HRW Yemen and Bahrain researcher, said.
Houthi forces have surrounded Taizz since 2015, near the start of the ongoing civil war in Yemen. Throughout that time, government forces have controlled urban areas while Houthis control surrounding areas and major roads, restricting civilian movement and access to goods.
In October, Houthi forces tightened their grip on the city, nearly encircling it entirely. HRW spoke to multiple individuals on the ground in Taizz who explained how food prices have spiked as supply as decreased. The UN World Food Programme reported “wheat flour stocks are nearly exhausted” and local food supplies “may last only a short time if access constraints continue.” The group expressed heightened alarm, considering the previous “emergency levels of hunger” in many of the city’s districts.
Beyond directly restricting food and aid, Houthi military action in the greater region has limited fuel supplies in Taizz, Yemen and abroad. Over the past few months, the Iranian-backed Houthis have, with considerable success, attacked Saudi oil refineries and used naval power to disrupt oil transport through the Red Sea to pressure the Saudi-backed government.
Taizz rests in the south-western corner of Yemen, near the port city of Mocha along the Bab-al Mandab Strait. Recent Houthi military pressure in the area has challenged for control of the strait–a choke-point for vessels traveling to or from the south Red Sea.
Prior to these military actions, Saudi oil infrastructure and open Red Sea passage had significantly mitigated global oil supply losses resulting from Iran’s shut down of the Strait of Hormuz. Now, however, damaged refineries and threatened water passage on both sides of the Arabian Peninsula have caused raised oil prices and diminished supply.
“The crisis in Taizz isn’t in the food itself, it’s in the fuel,” a local leader told HRW. “Transporting food depends on fuel… and truck drivers’ costs have doubled.”
While military sieges themselves are not illegal under international law, use of civilian starvation as a method of warfare violates international humanitarian law. HRW demanded Houthi forces immediately reopen routes for food, water, and medicine to enter the Taizz and called on both sides of the conflict to protect civilian aid and movement.
“The Houthis cannot use the siege of Taizz to justify the humanitarian catastrophe they are causing civilians,” Jafarnia said. “They should immediately facilitate the entry of food, fuel, medicine, water, and aid to avert further suffering.”
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“Renewed efforts by the Houthis to cut off food, water, and medicine to Taizz show their utter disregard for civilian lives,” Niku Jafarnia, HRW Yemen and Bahrain researcher, said.
Houthi forces have surrounded Taizz since 2015, near the start of the ongoing civil war in Yemen. Throughout that time, government forces have controlled urban areas while Houthis control surrounding areas and major roads, restricting civilian movement and access to goods.
In October, Houthi forces tightened their grip on the city, nearly encircling it entirely. HRW spoke to multiple individuals on the ground in Taizz who explained how food prices have spiked as supply as decreased. The UN World Food Programme reported “wheat flour stocks are nearly exhausted” and local food supplies “may last only a short time if access constraints continue.” The group expressed heightened alarm, considering the previous “emergency levels of hunger” in many of the city’s districts.
Beyond directly restricting food and aid, Houthi military action in the greater region has limited fuel supplies in Taizz, Yemen and abroad. Over the past few months, the Iranian-backed Houthis have, with considerable success, attacked Saudi oil refineries and used naval power to disrupt oil transport through the Red Sea to pressure the Saudi-backed government.
Taizz rests in the south-western corner of Yemen, near the port city of Mocha along the Bab-al Mandab Strait. Recent Houthi military pressure in the area has challenged for control of the strait–a choke-point for vessels traveling to or from the south Red Sea.
Prior to these military actions, Saudi oil infrastructure and open Red Sea passage had significantly mitigated global oil supply losses resulting from Iran’s shut down of the Strait of Hormuz. Now, however, damaged refineries and threatened water passage on both sides of the Arabian Peninsula have caused raised oil prices and diminished supply.
“The crisis in Taizz isn’t in the food itself, it’s in the fuel,” a local leader told HRW. “Transporting food depends on fuel… and truck drivers’ costs have doubled.”
While military sieges themselves are not illegal under international law, use of civilian starvation as a method of warfare violates international humanitarian law. HRW demanded Houthi forces immediately reopen routes for food, water, and medicine to enter the Taizz and called on both sides of the conflict to protect civilian aid and movement.
“The Houthis cannot use the siege of Taizz to justify the humanitarian catastrophe they are causing civilians,” Jafarnia said. “They should immediately facilitate the entry of food, fuel, medicine, water, and aid to avert further suffering.”
The post Houthis deprive Yemen capital of food, water and medicine, rights group says appeared first on JURIST - News.
Continue reading...
Note: We don't have any responsibilities about this news. Its been posted here by Feed Reader and we had no controls and checking on it. And because News posted here will be deleted automatically after 21 days, threads are closed so that no one spend time to post and discuss here. You can always check the source and discuss in their site.