Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms Documents 164 Houthi Crimes and Violations in Taiz and Lahj over 48 Hours, Alongside Approximately 450 Projectiles Fired at Residential Areas
The Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms has released its periodic report, stating that its field team documented (164) crimes and violations committed by the terrorist Houthi militia against civilians and civilian objects in Taiz and Lahj governorates over the past (48) hours. The team also recorded approximately (450) projectiles fired at residential neighbourhoods and populated areas, amid an escalation accompanied by the continuing siege and tighter restrictions on civilian movement and the delivery of essential supplies.
In its report issued today, Tuesday, 3 November 2026, the Network stated that the continuing Houthi attacks killed approximately (28) civilians, including (5) children and (3) women, and injured (57) people, including (14) children, (6) women and (10) healthcare workers.
The report explained that the documented incidents included killings and injuries caused by shelling and sniper fire, two massacres against civilians, abductions and detention, and attacks on residential neighbourhoods, public roads, ambulance crews and private vehicles. It also documented efforts to recruit young people from the Muhamasheen community.
According to the report, damage affected (51) homes and health facilities, including (10) homes that were completely destroyed. Affected areas included Al-Misrakh district, the villages of Duba, and the villages of Adud in Sabr Al-Mawadim district. In addition, (12) privately owned civilian vehicles were damaged.
The field team also documented a widespread abduction campaign carried out by the Houthi militia in Al-Hawban, Al-Turbah and the western coast, during which (16) civilians were abducted and taken to unknown locations.
The Network reported that yesterday, Monday, 2 November 2026, the Houthi militia committed two massacres by attacking a health centre in Lahj governorate and a public market in Taiz governorate. Both attacks struck civilian facilities and gathering places that residents visit to receive medical treatment and obtain their daily necessities.
It stated that the shelling of Al-Suqya Health Centre in Al-Mudarabah district, Lahj governorate, southern Yemen, killed or injured (20) people, including (10) healthcare workers. The Network described the attack as an assault on the right to life and a grave violation of the protections afforded to civilians, medical facilities and medical personnel.
In Taiz governorate, the Network documented a Houthi missile attack on a public market in Al-Najd, in the village of Al-Makh‘af, Al-Aqroud subdistrict, Al-Misrakh district. The attack killed or injured approximately (30) civilians, including (8) children, and damaged approximately (13) homes.
The Network stressed that attacking a health centre and a public market demonstrates a profound disregard for civilian life and undermines the essentials of survival, from healthcare and food to livelihoods. It added that injuries among healthcare workers compound the humanitarian consequences of the attack by harming those responsible for saving the wounded and weakening the ability of medical facilities to provide urgently needed services.
In Al-Mawasit district, in the southern countryside of Taiz, the Network documented injuries to nine-year-old Mohammed Abdulwali Ahmed Mughallis and his eleven-year-old sister, Rania Abdulwali Ahmed Mughallis, following the explosion of a landmine planted by the Houthi militia in Al-Makbashah village, in the Qadas area, while they were herding sheep.
It stated that this incident illustrates the continuing danger that landmines pose to children and civilians, even as they carry out everyday activities and help sustain their families’ livelihoods.
The Network noted that villages across the districts of Jabal Sabr face continuous shelling and sniper attacks, alongside a siege that deepens residents’ suffering, threatens their lives and makes civilian movement and the evacuation of the wounded along rugged mountain roads increasingly difficult.
It added that the attacks on the health centre and public market form part of a continuing pattern of indiscriminate attacks involving various types of projectiles, missiles and drones against civilians, residential neighbourhoods and public gathering places in Taiz, causing further casualties and deepening fear and insecurity.
In a related development, the Network documented efforts by the Houthi militia to recruit young people from the Muhamasheen community in areas under its control in Al-Samiqah, Al-Kala’ibah subdistrict, Al-Ma‘afir district. The young recruits were enrolled in ideological and training courses in preparation for deployment to battlefronts in southern Taiz governorate.
The Network warned against exploiting the community’s socioeconomic circumstances to expose its members to the dangers of combat. It also stressed the gravity of recruiting children and involving them in hostilities, and the resulting threats to their lives, safety and future.
The Network stated that the escalation in Taiz and neighbouring areas, ongoing since the beginning of September, has been accompanied by shelling of residential neighbourhoods, villages and markets, a tightening siege and the cutting of supply routes. These conditions are worsening displacement, depriving residents of essential services and weakening the ability of families and healthcare facilities to withstand the crisis.
It explained that shortages of fuel needed for transport and essential services, together with the scarcity of cooking gas, food and medicines, threaten hospitals’ continued operation. Hospitals continue to receive wounded people and other patients with limited resources, while ambulance crews face increasing difficulties reaching victims and transporting them for treatment.
The Network stressed that these conditions heighten the risks facing cancer patients and people with kidney failure, whose lives depend on uninterrupted treatment, access to medication and regular dialysis sessions, as well as children, women and older people. The closure of a health facility or the interruption of a medicine supply can result in the loss of a life that could otherwise have been saved.
The Network highlighted the dire humanitarian conditions in the villages of Al-Aqroud, Kahlan and Al-Najadah, where besieged families face severe food shortages amid fears that their remaining supplies will run out, with no access to cooking fuel, including gas and firewood.
It added that most solar panels in the affected villages have been damaged by bullets and shrapnel, leaving residents in darkness at night amid continuing shelling and deteriorating living conditions. Health conditions are also worsening, particularly among children, older people and those with chronic and intractable illnesses, while humanitarian assistance remains absent from these villages.
The Network affirmed that directing attacks against civilians, civilian objects and medical facilities, as well as launching indiscriminate attacks, is prohibited under international humanitarian law and may amount to war crimes where the requisite legal elements are established. It also underscored the gravity of abductions, detention and any accompanying enforced disappearance, as well as child recruitment, stating that these violations amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity.
The Network held the Houthi militia responsible for the documented attacks and their humanitarian consequences. It stressed that investigations and accountability must extend to everyone who planned, ordered or carried out the attacks, and anyone whose responsibility is established. Impunity must not continue to enable the recurrence of crimes and compound victims’ suffering.
It called on the United Nations, the international community and bodies concerned with civilian protection to explicitly condemn the attacks on Al-Suqya Health Centre and the public market, take practical measures and exert effective pressure to halt attacks on civilians, medical facilities and ambulance crews, and support documentation, investigation and accountability efforts.
The Network also issued an urgent appeal for action to protect residents of Taiz and the affected areas of Lahj, lift the siege and restrictions obstructing civilian movement and the delivery of food, medicine and fuel, and facilitate humanitarian access and the evacuation of wounded and sick people.
It warned that continued escalation and expanding attacks on health facilities and civilian gatherings threaten to cause further casualties, displacement and deprivation. It stressed that expressions of concern, without measures to end the attacks, leave civilians exposed to further killing and terror.
Issued by the Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms
Tuesday, 3 November 2026