U.N. relief chief Tom Fletcher urged Yemen’s parties to reopen aid roads into Taiz after water output there fell by half and hospitals faced fuel and medicine shortages.
Fletcher said in a post on X Monday that roads were closed and supplies were dwindling in Taiz, a city of about 1 million. Food prices there had risen at least 50%, he said.
Fletcher said humanitarian partners had reached nearly 260,000 displaced people, but “needs are outpacing our response.” He urged the parties to open roads for aid, adding, “Civilians cannot be held hostage by the fighting.”
He said 70 U.N. staff members and dozens of other humanitarian workers remained detained.
Fletcher called for the detained workers to be freed, saying they were “not bargaining chips.”
Earlier, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said Houthi forces had blocked the only supply route between Taiz and Aden, disrupting relief deliveries; EconoTimes previously reported Türk’s warning about the route. Anadolu Agency dated Yemen’s conflict to the Houthis’ 2014 capture of Sanaa and said Saudi Arabia led an intervention in March 2015, backing Yemen’s internationally recognized authorities. The agency said the war has left millions reliant on aid.
