Yemen’s health ministry warned on October 10 that dwindling supplies could halt lifesaving medical services in the besieged city of Taiz. The internationally recognised government blamed the Houthis, an armed group also known as Ansar Allah, for blocking essential deliveries to the southwestern city.

Hospitals face shortages of medicine and fuel

The Ministry of Public Health and Population said medicines, intravenous fluids, medical supplies and fuel were nearing depletion. It warned that emergency care, surgery, intensive care, dialysis and neonatal services could be forced to stop.

Patients, wounded people, pregnant women and newborns would face immediate risks, the ministry said. Fuel shortages also threaten hospital generators, ambulances and the refrigerated storage needed for medicines and vaccines.

The ministry warned that these disruptions could cause serious complications and preventable deaths. It remains unclear whether any services have already stopped or how long remaining supplies will last.

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The ministry called for supply routes to reopen immediately, with safe passage for patients, ambulances, health workers and aid. It urged the United Nations and humanitarian organisations to deliver medicines, intravenous fluids, medical supplies, oxygen and fuel.

Renewed fighting cuts access to Taiz

A Barbados news report said the renewed siege took shape in early October. It reported that the Houthis captured the port city of Mocha during a September offensive along the governorate’s Red Sea coast.

By October 4, the group had taken At Turbah, cutting the last main road linking Taiz with other government-held areas, the report said. Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces began a counteroffensive in early October.

On October 11, the Yemeni army’s Al-Aqrouz Front Media Centre said government forces had retaken two hills and a school south of Taiz. The positions were Mahyoub Thabet hill, Wathib hill and Al-Furqan School in al-Dhunayb village.

A Yemeni news outlet, citing local and field sources, also reported heavy fighting across several Taiz fronts and airstrikes on Houthi positions. Both accounts reported Houthi losses without giving casualty figures.

Residents face a broader siege

Nabil Jamil, head of the government’s planning and development office in Taiz governorate, told Al Jazeera the siege was broader and more severe than in 2015. He said government-held areas housed about 2.8 million people, alongside 200,000 recently displaced people.

According to the Barbados report, Taiz endured a Houthi siege from 2015 to 2016, when government forces were confined to a city-centre enclave. The siege was broken in 2016, but a partial blockade remained at other access points.

The Houthis agreed in 2024 to reopen an eastern route into the city. That route later closed after fighting resumed, the report said.