Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms Documents 53 Houthi Crimes and Violations and Approximately 417 Projectiles Fired at Residential Areas in Taiz over the Past 48 Hours

The Network stated that the documented incidents included killings and injuries caused by shelling and sniper fire; abductions and detention in undisclosed locations; house raids; attacks on residential neighbourhoods and public roads; the storming and looting of civilian facilities; and the planting of explosive devices and mines along routes used by civilians. These violations occurred alongside tighter restrictions on civilian movement and access to food, medicine and fuel.

According to the Network, the Houthi attacks killed 3 civilians: a boy, a girl and Fakiha Abduljalil Sufian, a 51-year-old woman who was shot by a Houthi sniper in Al-Amad village, Al-Aqroud subdistrict, Al-Misrakh District. Residents were forced to carry her on their shoulders to seek medical assistance after the sniper targeted vehicles attempting to reach the wounded. She died while being carried, highlighting the grave consequences of targeting transport and obstructing access to medical care.

The Network also documented injuries to 19 civilians, including 4 women and 7 children. Among them was two-year-old Hudhayfah Mohammed Abdu Yahya, who sustained shrapnel wounds to the head when a mortar shell fired by Houthi militias struck his home in Najd Al-Arous.

The report recorded the abduction of 6 civilians in the Al-Turbah and Al-Hujariyah areas and their transfer to Al-Saleh City, as well as raids on approximately 4 homes in Al-Hujariyah. A further 12 homes sustained total or partial damage as a result of intensive, indiscriminate shelling of populated villages and residential neighbourhoods.

The Network also documented damage to 9 privately owned vehicles in the villages of Dabbah, Al-Qahfah and Al-Amad, and other areas of Al-Aqroud subdistrict in Al-Misrakh District, southeastern Taiz Governorate.

The periodic report stated that Houthi shelling during the reporting period was concentrated on Kahlan and surrounding villages in Sabr Al-Mawadim District, southeast of Taiz city, which have been subjected to intensive bombardment for several days. Shelling also targeted Dabbah, Al-Qahfah, Al-Amad and other areas of Al-Aqroud in Al-Misrakh District, as well as Najd Al-Arous.

The Network recorded approximately 417 projectiles fired over the past 48 hours, including mortar and artillery shells and Katyusha rockets, alongside drone attacks targeting populated areas and villages.

The report noted that Houthi militias have recently resorted to planting explosive devices along public roads. The Network’s field team documented the planting of explosive devices and mines along civilian routes in Al-Mukayshah village, in the Qadas area of Al-Mawasit District, southern Taiz Governorate. An explosion injured the child Mohammed Abdulwali Ahmed Mughallis and his sister Rania, whose wounds required their transfer to Khalifa Hospital in Al-Turbah for treatment.

The Network warned that the continuing siege enforced by gunfire and shelling on Kahlan, Al-Aqroud, Al-Rahn and Al-Aridah, southeast of Taiz city, together with obstruction of access for ambulance teams and medical and food assistance, is compounding civilian suffering and preventing the evacuation of wounded and sick people. These conditions risk turning treatable injuries into preventable deaths.

It stressed that residents of Taiz city face worsening humanitarian conditions as a result of the siege and repeated shelling of residential neighbourhoods, which continue to cause civilian deaths and injuries while families and healthcare facilities struggle to cope.

The Network explained that shortages of fuel needed for transport and essential services are worsening alongside shortages of cooking gas, food and medicine. It warned that dwindling supplies and fuel threaten to bring the city’s hospitals to a standstill, even as they continue to receive patients and people wounded by shelling and face increasing difficulties providing essential treatment and care.

The Network emphasised that the risks are particularly severe for patients with cancer and kidney failure, whose lives depend on uninterrupted treatment, access to medication and regular dialysis sessions, as well as for children, women and older people. The shutdown of a healthcare facility or interruption of an essential medicine may cost a life that could otherwise have been saved.

The Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms issued an urgent appeal to the international community to intervene immediately to save civilians trapped in Taiz, particularly in Kahlan, Al-Aqroud, Al-Rahn and Al-Aridah. It called for pressure on Houthi militias to stop indiscriminate shelling and attacks on villages and residential neighbourhoods, end the siege enforced by gunfire and shelling, and lift restrictions on civilian movement and essential supplies.

The Network called for safe, unobstructed access for ambulance and relief teams; the evacuation of wounded and sick people; the urgent delivery of medical, food and shelter assistance to besieged families; and the provision of fuel, medicines and supplies necessary to keep hospitals and essential services operating.

It affirmed that protecting civilians and enabling wounded and sick people to obtain treatment is a humanitarian imperative that cannot be delayed. Continued obstruction of medical evacuation and essential supplies increases the loss of life and deepens civilian suffering.

Issued by the Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms

Sunday, 1 November 2026