The conflict has intensified since forces loyal to the internationally recognised government and the Saudi-led coalition launched airstrikes on the Houthi-held airport in Sana’a in July, shattering a 2022 ceasefire deal that had largely stopped the fighting.
The UN has called for aid workers to be given access to Taiz. Oxfam in London called for the UK to send extra humanitarian aid to the country. The UK has allocated just £104m in aid to Yemen for each of the next three years, down from the £196m allocated in 2020. US aid to the stricken country has been virtually wiped out, and Germany, another leading funder, has halved its aid programme.
People unload sacks of wheat flour from a truck onto motorbikes
Food and fuel run low as besieged Yemeni city braces for Houthi breakthrough
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Donor countries have subscribed to only 23% of the cost of the UN humanitarian relief programme for Yemen this year, and pressure is growing on Saudi Arabia – itself cash-strapped by the cost of war – to make up the shortfall. The World Food Programme said wheat flour reserves in the city were nearly exhausted as of mid-October.
