Saudi war against Houthis displaces 130,000 Yemenis as hunger crisis deepens - Middle East Eye

The Saudi war in Yemen against the Houthi movement has forced at least 130,000 people from their homes since the beginning of September, the UN Refugee Agency warned on Tuesday.

Saudi air strikes alongside fighting between Ansar Allah (Houthis) and government forces have driven mass displacement across western and central Yemen.

“Civilians continue to bear the brunt of the conflict, with at least 110 casualties reported, including 28 lives lost,” UNHCR said for September.

The agency said Taiz remained the “epicentre of the crisis”, accounting for more than 60 percent of displacement, while many families remain trapped by the fighting.

“Displacement is also being reported from Al Jawf, Marib and Al Hodeidah governorates, reflecting the expanding, multi-front nature of the conflict,” it added.

Yemeni government forces said on Tuesday that Saudi Arabia had launched air strikes on Houthi sites and weapons depots west of Taiz province.

Hours later, Saudi Arabia’s civil defence warned of an incoming strike in the Najran region. No casualties were reported.

“For your safety, continue following civil defence instructions and avoid gathering and filming,” authorities said in a statement.

Yemeni Prime Minister Shaya al-Zindani conceded in an interview with Saudi newspaper Okaz that the Houthi capture of the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait “represent[s] a highly critical situation” but does not “mark the end of the fight”.

Zindani, who heads Yemen’s internationally recognised government, said Saudi-backed forces were “reorganising their deployments and raising readiness levels to retake lost positions”.

Clashes and artillery fire were also reported in Al-Jawf and Marib. At least 3,000 displaced people have arrived in Marib, about 120km east of Sanaa, after fleeing the fighting.

Zindani’s Ministry of Human Rights accused the Houthis of targeting the "Bab al-Mandab Commercial Complex" in Lahj governorate.

The ministry said the “market was subjected to bombardment by two ballistic missiles that fell with a time gap of approximately one hour, during the midday period when there is heavy movement of shoppers and passersby”.

The humanitarian crisis is worsening alongside the fighting.

World Food Programme acting executive director, Carl Skau, warned that hunger was spreading as “people are not eating enough; there is no healthcare”.

He said “tens of thousands” of people were arriving in “overstretched” camps “with nothing”.

Yemen imports about 90 percent of its food, leaving millions exposed to disruptions at ports and along supply routes.

More than 18 million people, roughly half the population, face acute food insecurity, while about 2.2 million children under five are acutely malnourished.